Gary Cohn Is Leaving Goldman Sachs To Chair Donald Trump’s National Economic Council

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Goldman Sachs was the stick President-elect Donald Trump used to bludgeon political foes like Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail and win the White House. Now that he has been elected, Trump is leaning on former employees of the investment bank to play a major role in crafting his economic agenda.

On Monday, Trump announced Gary Cohn will be joining his cabinet as director of the National Economic Council and an assistant to the President for economic policy. Cohn’s appointment means there will be a trifecta of former Goldmanites in the Trump administration. Former Goldman partner and mortgage trader Steven Mnuchin has been named Secretary of Treasury by Trump. Steve Bannon, a former Goldman banker, is his chief strategist.

Read More: How Jared Kushner Won Donald Trump The White House

Cohn’s appointment has big implications for Goldman Sachs and the tone of the Trump administration as it takes power.

For years, it was Cohn who was seen as the successor to Goldman’s current chief executive Lloyd Blankfein. Now, the script on succession planning inside Goldman is shifting. With Cohn, Trump is adding another familiar name in the business world to his cabinet. Trump has named turnaround private equity investor Wilbur Ross as Secretary of Commerce and restaurant CEO Andy Pudzer as Secretary of Labor. Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is a top candidate to become Secretary of State, while former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is being floated as a possible director of National Intelligence.

“As my top economic advisor, Gary Cohn is going to put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people,” Trump said in a statement. “he will help craft economic policies that will grow wages for our workers, stop the exodus of jobs overseas and create many new opportunities for Americans who have been struggling,” Trump added.

Cohn has worked at Goldman Sachs since 1990 and has been a partner since 1994. Like CEO Blankfein, Cohn started at Goldman’s J. Aron commodities trading division and rose the investment bank’s ranks as it went from a private partnership to a public company. During the early 2000s, Cohn’s various roles at Goldman included heading its fixed income currency and commodities trading division and the bank’s securities and equities business. A decade ago, he was named president of the bank.

As Cohn leaves Goldman for Washington, he will likely be forced to divest the $200 million of Goldman Sachs stock he’s earned over a 26-year career at the bank. That prospective divestiture comes as Goldman shares rocket past all-time record highs and would likely be done on a tax deferred basis.

Cohn joins a decorated list of former Goldman executives who’ve left the bank for top government jobs. Henry H. Fowler, Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson all left the bank to be become Secretary of the Treasury. Former co-CEO Jon Corzine served as a governor and senator of the State of New Jersey after leaving the bank. The current heads of the European Central Bank and Bank of England, Mario Draghi and Mark Carney, are former Goldman executives. William C. Dudley, the current president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York came from Goldman, as did Minnesota Fed president Neel Kashkari.

“I am confident that Gary will bring his many talents and expertise to the White House and will do his part to make our economy stronger for all Americans,” Blankfein said in an emailed statement to FORBES.

“Gary and I have been partners for more than 25 years, so I know better than perhaps anyone that he has the intelligence, commitment, and experience to be successful at any endeavor he undertakes. We will miss Gary at Goldman Sachs, but I believe the American people and the President-Elect are fortunate that he has chosen to serve his country,” Blankfein added.

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