Goldman Sachs has concluded 2025 as the top global advisor for corporate unions, leveraged off a resurgence in billion-dollar tie-ups to capture an eye-whopping 32% slice of total market activity. Final data from LSEG confirms the American advisory powerhouse marshalled US$1.48 trillion in capital deals over the last 12 months, marking its most robust performance by value since the 1980s. A flurry of elephant-sized consolidations came through, securing mandates on an impressive 38 of the 68 global boardrooms involving targets above the US$10 billion threshold.Fees upThe high intensity in throughput translated into a substantial revenue gap over its well-known rival, generating $4.6 billion in pure advisory fees for the calendar year, almost 50% above the others.JPMorgan Chase: $3.1 billionMorgan Stanley: $3 billionCitigroup: $2 billionEvercore: $1.7 billionWhile the blue-chip powerhouse held the top aggregate rank, it was notably absent from the two largest individual amalgamations: Union Pacific’s $88.2 billion absorption of Norfolk Southern and the contested bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery.Shifting guardrailsA primary catalyst was a perceived softening in U.S. competition oversight. as a permissive regulatory climate