Goldman Sachs once again sat atop the global dealmaking league tables in 2025, tightening its grip on the world’s biggest mergers as a sharp rise in mega-deals and a more permissive regulatory climate transformed the M&A landscape.
According to LSEG data reported by Reuters, Goldman advised on $1.48 trillion worth of transactions last year, accounting for roughly 32% of the global market and securing its position as the No. 1 investment bank by both deal value and M&A fee revenue. The firm earned $4.6 billion in advisory fees, well ahead of JPMorgan at $3.1 billion and Morgan Stanley at $3 billion, followed by Citi and Evercore.
The standout feature of 2025 was the explosion of so-called mega-deals. Transactions valued at $10 billion or more jumped to 68 last year, with a combined value of $1.5 trillion, more than double the number recorded a year earlier. Goldman advised on 38 of those deals, more than any rival, benefiting from what LSEG described as the strongest period for mega-deals by number since records began in 1980.
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Goldman itself described the environment as unusually fertile. In its 2026 M&A outlook, Global Co-Head of M&A Stephan Feldgoise called 2025 an “exceptional M&A year,” telling clients it was driven by a “ubiquity of capital” and a willingness by corporate boards to pursue transformative combinations rather than incremental growth.
That confidence was reinforced by politics. President Donald Trump’s more permissive antitrust posture lowered barriers that had previously stalled large-scale consolidation, giving executives cover to pursue deals that once might have drawn regulatory pushback. As a result, consolidation accelerated well beyond technology, spilling into railways, consumer goods, media, and other sectors.
Goldman’s dominance was particularly pronounced outside the United States. For announced M&A involving Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the bank captured a 44.7% market share in 2025, a level surpassed only once before, during the dot-com boom of 1999.
Yet even in a year it dominated, Goldman did not advise on the two single largest transactions. Those were Union Pacific’s $88.2 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern and the sprawling, high-profile battle for Warner Bros Discovery, which drew bids valued at up to $108 billion, including debt. Those deals were shared among Bank of America, Barclays, Wells Fargo, and a cluster of boutique advisers, highlighting how the biggest mandates are increasingly syndicated as boards seek a broader range of perspectives.
JPMorgan, while trailing Goldman in pure M&A rankings, still emerged as the highest-paid global investment bank overall once equity and debt capital markets fees were included. LSEG data showed JPMorgan earned $10.1 billion in total investment banking fees in 2025, compared with $8.9 billion for Goldman. JPMorgan advised Warner Bros in its sale process and guided Kimberly-Clark through its $50.6 billion purchase of Kenvue, the bank’s two largest deals of the year.
“The strategic desire to grow and find scale is high,” JPMorgan’s global head of advisory and M&A, Anu Aiyengar, said. “That has driven boardrooms and C-suites to be more proactive. People are not waiting for a company to be put up for sale to initiate M&A activity.”
The Warner Bros contest, in particular, reshuffled the league tables. Competing bids from Paramount Skydance and Netflix lifted the profiles of advisers such as Wells Fargo, Moelis, and Allen & Co, as well as law firms including Latham & Watkins. Wells Fargo, which advised on ten deals above $10 billion, including Netflix’s bid, jumped eight places from 2024 to rank ninth in 2025.
Boutique bank Moelis also gained ground, finishing the year at No. 16 after advising on five transactions worth more than $5 billion, including the $20 billion sale of Essential Utilities. Smaller firms such as RedBird Capital Partners and M. Klein & Co. briefly vaulted into the top 25 thanks to their roles advising Paramount, underscoring how a single mega-deal can dramatically alter rankings.
Those standings remain fluid. LSEG data show that advisers to both Warner Bros bidders are currently credited in league tables, but that will change once a winner is selected. If Paramount withdraws its offer, Wells Fargo would move up two more places, while advisers tied solely to Paramount would drop out of the rankings.
Legal advisers also benefited from the scale of transactions. Charles Ruck, global chair of the corporate department at Latham & Watkins, the top-ranked M&A law firm, said the growth in deal size reflected “size creep,” driven partly by rising equity markets.
The S&P 500 rose 16.39% in 2025, and the Nasdaq gained 20.36%, pushing valuations higher and making transactions larger by default. Latham advised on the Paramount bid, the $55 billion leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts, and the $40 billion sale of Aligned Data Centers.
Looking ahead, dealmakers say the conditions that powered 2025 have not yet dissipated. Interest rates are edging lower, corporate balance sheets are flush with cash, and the IPO market remains less robust than many companies would prefer, keeping M&A the primary route to growth and exits.
“The pipeline is full,” Ruck said. “Interest rates are coming down, which helps private equity. There is a lot of cash on corporate balance sheets. The IPO market is still not where people want it. And you’ve got a basically friendly regulatory environment navigating the winners and losers.”