Lloyd Blankfein

Chairman

Birthday September 20, 1954

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace New York City, U.S.

Age 69 years old

Nationality United States

#31738 Most Popular

1954

Lloyd Craig Blankfein (born September 20, 1954) is an American investment banker who has served as senior chairman of Goldman Sachs since 2019, and chairman and chief executive from 2006 until the end of 2018.

Lloyd Craig Blankfein was born in The Bronx borough of New York City to a low-income, Jewish family on September 20, 1954.

His father, Seymour Blankfein, was a clerk with the U.S. Postal Service branch in Manhattan and his mother was a receptionist.

He was raised in the Linden Houses, a housing project in the East New York section of Brooklyn.

1971

He received primary and secondary education in New York City's public schools graduating valedictorian at Thomas Jefferson High School in 1971.

1975

He went on to attend Harvard College where he lived in Winthrop House and graduated with an A.B. in history in 1975.

1978

After graduating college, he attended Harvard Law School where he received a J.D. degree in 1978.

Blankfein first worked for the law firms Proskauer Rose and then Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine.

1982

In 1982, he became a precious metals salesman at J. Aron & Co., a small commodities trading firm which was acquired by Goldman in 1981.

In 1982, he joined the commodities trading firm J. Aron & Co. as a precious metals salesman in its London office, after J. Aron was acquired by the investment bank, Goldman Sachs.

Blankfein joined J. Aron & Co. in 1982, after it had been acquired by Goldman Sachs in 1981.

1994

After leading Goldman's currency and commodities divisions from 1994 to 1997 he was named heir apparent.

When then chairman Stephen Friedman appointed Henry Paulson as his successor, Blankfein was soon tasked with managing or co-managing the company's currency and commodities divisions from 1994 to 1997.

After Paulson consolidated control of Goldman, he identified Blankfein as his heir apparent, despite Blankfein ranking third in the corporate hierarchy behind two co-presidents.

2000

As president, he oversaw the 2000s commodities boom and positioned Goldman to take advantage of rising commodity prices.

2004

Previous to leading Goldman Sachs, he was the company's president and chief operating officer (COO) from 2004 to 2006, serving under then-CEO Henry Paulson.

Born and raised in New York City, Blankfein attended Harvard University for his undergraduate and law school studies before briefly entering private law practice.

He served as the president and chief operating officer from 2004 to his ascension to chief executive.

In 2004, Blankfein was promoted to president and chief operating officer, a position he served in until June 2006.

2006

On May 30, 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush nominated Paulson to serve as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury which prompted Paulson to establish a succession plan.

Shortly after Paulson was sworn in, Blankfein was asked to serve as chairman and chief executive officer in July 2006.

2007

Almost immediately after Blankfein assumed the head of the company, the financial crisis of 2007–08 hit the banking industry.

His role in handling the crisis was widely praised and criticized by media outlets, making him a public figure.

After the Federal Reserve implemented dovish monetary policies and the U.S. Treasury bailed out the company, Blankfein took advantage of low interest rates to undercut competition from other investment banks and established Goldman Sachs as the second largest investment bank in the U.S. as others either went bankrupt or fell to acquisition.

During the 2007–08 financial crisis, many financial institutions that had dealings in subprime mortgages received a high level of public attention.

Goldman Sachs served as a market maker that dealt with financial products that held subprime mortgages.

2008

During late 2008, the crisis led the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and the U.S. Treasury to increase public spending in private banks.

2009

Blankfein was twice named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine and won the Financial Times Person of the Year award in 2009.

In 2009, he was named Financial Times Person of the Year.

His citation noted that "his bank stuck to its strengths, unashamedly [took] advantage of the low interest rates and diminished competition resulting from the crisis to make big trading profits."

2010

On January 13, 2010, Blankfein voluntarily testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that he considered Goldman Sachs's role as primarily market maker, not a creator of the product (i.e., subprime mortgage–related securities).

Blankfein testified once more before Congress in April 2010 at a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

He said that Goldman Sachs had no moral or legal obligation to inform their clients they were betting against the products they were selling to them because it was not acting in a fiduciary role.

Senator Carl Levin accused Blankfein of misleading Congress; however, no perjury charges were brought against Blankfein.

Nevertheless, as a precaution Blankfein hired Reid Weingarten, a high-profile defense lawyer who represented former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers and former Enron accounting officer Richard Causey.

2011

Two months later, after the publicity of the testimony increased his public status, he was listed as #43 on Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People in November 2011.

2012

On March 14, 2012, Greg Smith, a former Goldman executive, wrote a widely circulated op-ed for The New York Times titled "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs", in which he heavily criticized the firm's top leadership and Blankfein in particular for sidelining the interests of the client.

Smith claimed that employees were promoted for unloading less profitable products on clients, for trading products that maximized Goldman Sachs' profits, not their clients, and trading illiquid, opaque products.

2015

According to Bloomberg News, his net worth is estimated to be US$1.1 billion as of July 2015.

2018

His salary at Goldman Sachs in 2018 was estimated to be $24 million.