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Steve Tananbaum

Founder & CIO, GoldenTree Asset Management

Search every verified Steve Tananbaum interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Steven Tananbaum, founder and CIO of GoldenTree Asset Management, has recently discussed the state of credit markets and the impact of artificial intelligence in several interviews. In a July 2026 conversation with Goldman Sachs President John Waldron, Tananbaum addressed how AI financing is affecting credit markets, noting that while AI is a major economic driver, he questioned whether its growth could accelerate further and what the impact would be if it decelerated. He also described his investment approach as disciplined and process-driven, emphasizing the importance of confirming investment theses. In separate June 2026 interviews with the Wall Street Journal and iCapital, Tananbaum commented on market conditions, particularly in the software sector. He described software companies as being "on sale," noting they could be bought at significant discounts to what private equity firms had paid, while also acknowledging a bear case that corrections might not be complete. He discussed vulnerabilities in private credit, distinguishing valuation concerns from fraud, and noted that while some distressed and debtor-in-possession financings had become more attractive, the broader market did not offer great value. Tananbaum also drew parallels between software companies and retailers, suggesting some would thrive while others would fail, and highlighted severe valuation gaps between public and credit markets for similar companies.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“When I think of AI and the credit markets, I think of it two ways. First is economically, because it's such a driver of our economy. And it's hard to see how it's going to actually accelerate from here. So, the issue if it deaccelerates, what's going to be the impact? That's probably, to me, the biggest issue. And if it deaccelerates, will people be taking down their economic growth assumptions?”

“You also look at the difference between where you can buy software in the public market and kind of similar types of companies will trade close to eight to 10 times EBID da two to three times revenue that you can create in the credit markets at around two and a half to three times re excuse me IBIDA and less than one times revenue. So the valuation between the different markets is certainly pretty severe.”

“So, let's start with the bull case and then the bear case. So the bullcase is you can buy growing companies revenue and ibida for 70% off what um private equity firms paid.”

“Inflation is probably the biggest risk in the market and it's impacted because it's impacted rates much more credit than it has equities which I'm surprised at but it just is what it is. And if you look in the 70s there were equities did better than credit. So you know if you're looking at a bad environment at least that's one example where equity outperformed credit.”

“When we look at asset classes, probably the asset-backed asset class we find the best value which is a private asset class so we're finding good value there. In private credit there's some of the more anxious capital of the open-ended private credit funds are out of the market. So that leaves the funds and other players in private credit who are more deliberate being the main buyers of private credit. So we're seeing”

“When you look at who's backstopping it, they seem like good credits and people tend to think of two and three years out, not five or 10 years out. And it looks like for two to three years out, you're getting overcompensated for the risk. On the other hand, you're dealing with terrible technicals. They don't seem to run out of product.”

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