Lloyd Blankfein

Lloyd Blankfein
Born	Lloyd Craig Blankfein 20 9, 1954
Birthplace	New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Senior Chairman, Goldman Sachs
Known for	Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (2006–2018)
Education	Harvard University (BA, JD)
Children	3
Awards	Time 100 Most Influential People (twice); Financial Times Person of the Year (2009)

Lloyd Craig Blankfein (born September 20, 1954) is an American billionaire investment banker who has served as senior chairman of Goldman Sachs since 2019, having previously led the firm as chairman and chief executive officer from 2006 to the end of 2018. Raised in a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York, Blankfein rose from modest origins through Harvard University and a career in commodities trading to reach the pinnacle of global finance. He joined J. Aron & Co., a commodities trading firm that had been acquired by Goldman Sachs, in 1982 as a precious metals salesman and spent over three decades ascending the firm's hierarchy. His tenure as CEO coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in modern financial history — the 2008 financial crisis — during which Goldman Sachs received a federal bailout and subsequently emerged as one of the surviving pillars of Wall Street. Blankfein's leadership during and after the crisis drew both praise for steering the firm to profitability and criticism for the role of large investment banks in precipitating the economic downturn. He was twice named to Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world and was named Financial Times Person of the Year in 2009. According to Bloomberg News, his net worth was estimated at US$1.1 billion as of July 2015. In retirement, Blankfein has authored a memoir titled Streetwise, drawing on his experiences from Brooklyn to the executive suite of Goldman Sachs.

Early Life

Lloyd Craig Blankfein was born on September 20, 1954, in New York City and grew up in the Brooklyn borough. He was raised in a working-class household; his father was a postal worker and his mother a receptionist. The family lived in public housing projects in the East New York and Brownsville neighborhoods of Brooklyn, areas characterized at the time by economic hardship.

Despite the modest circumstances of his upbringing, Blankfein proved to be a strong student. In an excerpt from his memoir Streetwise, published by Vanity Fair in February 2026, Blankfein recounted the experience of arriving at Harvard University as a working-class kid from Brooklyn, describing himself as "anxiety-ridden" amid the predominantly privileged student body at the Ivy League institution. The contrast between his background in the housing projects and the rarefied environment of Harvard became a formative element of his personal narrative, one he has revisited publicly throughout his career and in his post-retirement writings.

Blankfein has spoken publicly about the value of his upbringing in shaping his approach to business and leadership. In a 2026 interview reported by Yahoo Finance, he pushed back against prominent technology leaders, including Peter Thiel, who have questioned the value of a college education. Blankfein argued that attending college makes a person a "complete person" and described it as one of the best investments an individual can make. He has also noted that during his time as Goldman Sachs CEO, the top graduates from public universities such as the University of Minnesota were "as good, maybe better" than the best students from Harvard, suggesting that talent was not confined to elite institutions.

Education

Blankfein attended Harvard University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. He continued his studies at Harvard Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor (JD). After completing his law degree, Blankfein briefly entered private legal practice before transitioning to finance in the early 1980s. His Harvard education, while initially a source of social anxiety given his working-class origins, provided the foundation for his entry into the upper echelons of the financial industry. Blankfein has remained a vocal advocate for the value of higher education, arguing in 2026 that college attendance contributes to personal development beyond professional training alone.

Career

Early Career at J. Aron & Co.

In 1982, Blankfein joined J. Aron & Co., a commodities trading firm that had been acquired by Goldman Sachs the previous year, working as a precious metals salesman. J. Aron was a relatively small operation within the Goldman Sachs umbrella, focused on trading commodities including gold and other precious metals. Blankfein's entry into the firm marked a departure from his legal career and the beginning of a trajectory that would span more than three decades within Goldman Sachs.

Blankfein advanced rapidly within the commodities and trading divisions of the firm. From 1994 to 1997, he led Goldman Sachs's currency and commodities divisions, a period during which he was identified as a potential future leader of the company. His success in these divisions was built on his expertise in trading and risk management, areas that would become central to Goldman Sachs's business model in the following decades.

President and Chief Operating Officer (2004–2006)

In 2004, Blankfein was named president and chief operating officer (COO) of Goldman Sachs, serving under then-CEO Henry Paulson. This appointment positioned him as the heir apparent to the firm's top leadership role. When Paulson left Goldman Sachs in 2006 to become United States Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush, Blankfein was elevated to the positions of chairman and chief executive officer.

Chairman and CEO (2006–2018)

The 2008 Financial Crisis

Blankfein assumed leadership of Goldman Sachs shortly before the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, which reshaped the global banking industry. As the crisis unfolded, several major financial institutions collapsed or were acquired, including Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. Goldman Sachs, along with other surviving firms, received assistance from the U.S. government. The Federal Reserve implemented accommodative monetary policies, and the U.S. Treasury provided a bailout to the company as part of the broader Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Blankfein's handling of the crisis generated significant public attention. He took advantage of the low interest rate environment that followed to undercut competition from other investment banks. As competitors either went bankrupt or fell to acquisition, Goldman Sachs consolidated its position and established itself as the second largest investment bank in the United States. His role during this period was both praised for preserving the firm and criticized by those who viewed large investment banks as contributors to the financial collapse.

The public scrutiny of Goldman Sachs during and after the crisis made Blankfein one of the most recognizable figures on Wall Street. The firm's rapid return to profitability, while millions of Americans faced foreclosure and unemployment, became a focal point for public anger directed at the financial industry.

Legal Scrutiny

In 2011, Blankfein hired prominent defense attorney Reid Weingarten amid a Department of Justice investigation into Goldman Sachs's activities during the financial crisis. The investigation was part of the broader government examination of Wall Street practices that led to the crisis.

In 2012, Blankfein publicly addressed the Libor scandal, stating that the rate-manipulation revelations "undermines trust" in the financial system. That same year, he met with Jack Lew, then a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and later Treasury Secretary.

Greg Smith Resignation

In March 2012, Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith published an op-ed in The New York Times titled "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs," in which he criticized the firm's culture and accused it of prioritizing profits over client interests. Smith described what he characterized as a toxic environment at the bank and directly criticized the leadership under Blankfein. The op-ed generated widespread media coverage and renewed public debate about the culture of Wall Street firms.

Compensation

Blankfein's compensation as CEO of Goldman Sachs attracted public attention, particularly in the years following the financial crisis when executive pay at bailed-out banks was a sensitive political topic. His salary at Goldman Sachs in 2018, his final year as CEO, was estimated to be $24 million.

Health

In September 2015, Goldman Sachs disclosed that Blankfein had been diagnosed with lymphoma, a form of cancer. Blankfein characterized the condition as "highly curable" and stated he would continue to work during treatment. He subsequently recovered and continued leading the firm. In October 2016, he discussed his experience with cancer publicly.

Retirement and Senior Chairmanship (2019–present)

Blankfein stepped down as chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs at the end of 2018, transitioning to the role of senior chairman in 2019. He was succeeded as CEO by David M. Solomon.

In a 2026 interview with The Wall Street Journal conducted in connection with the publication of his memoir, Blankfein acknowledged that he misses being CEO, particularly during periods of market crisis. He noted that the experience of navigating the 2008 financial crisis had been a defining period of his career and that moments of financial turbulence stirred a desire to be back in the leadership seat.

Soon after retiring, Blankfein began writing his memoir, Streetwise, which recounts his journey from his upbringing in the housing projects of Brooklyn to the top of Goldman Sachs. The book, excerpted in Vanity Fair in February 2026, offers an account of his experiences as a first-generation college student at Harvard, his early career in commodities trading, and his years leading Goldman Sachs through the financial crisis and its aftermath. According to eFinancialCareers, Blankfein stated that part of his motivation for writing the book was to offer a personal perspective on his career and life that had not previously been shared publicly.

Personal Life

Blankfein has three children. He has been affiliated with the Democratic Party and has made political donations over the course of his career.

In February 2012, Blankfein publicly voiced support for same-sex marriage, making him one of the more prominent Wall Street executives to do so at the time.

Blankfein has also served in a governance capacity in the educational and medical sectors. He has been associated with the board of overseers of Weill Cornell Medicine.

Recognition

Blankfein received significant recognition during his years as CEO of Goldman Sachs. He was named to Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world on two occasions, reflecting his prominence in global finance during a period of upheaval and recovery in the banking sector.

In 2009, the Financial Times named Blankfein its Person of the Year, an acknowledgment of his role in navigating Goldman Sachs through the financial crisis. The award came at a time when the firm had returned to profitability and was posting strong earnings, even as the broader economy continued to struggle with the aftermath of the recession.

His compensation at Goldman Sachs also drew attention as a measure of his standing in the industry. According to Bloomberg News, his net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion as of July 2015, placing him among the wealthiest figures in American finance.

At the same time, Blankfein's public profile was shaped by criticism directed at Goldman Sachs and the broader financial industry. The firm's role in the financial crisis, its receipt of government bailout funds, and its rapid return to large profits and executive compensation packages generated controversy that extended to Blankfein personally. Media coverage of Goldman Sachs during this period frequently featured Blankfein as the public face of the institution, and he became a subject of both admiration and scrutiny within the business press and among the general public.

Legacy

Blankfein's career at Goldman Sachs spanned a period of transformation in the global financial industry. His rise from a commodities salesman to the firm's top executive over more than two decades reflected the increasing importance of trading operations to Goldman Sachs's business model, a shift from the firm's traditional emphasis on investment banking advisory services.

His leadership during the 2008 financial crisis remains the most discussed aspect of his tenure. Under his direction, Goldman Sachs accepted government assistance through TARP but subsequently repaid the funds and returned to profitability more quickly than many of its competitors. Several rival firms either collapsed or were absorbed by larger institutions during the crisis, and Goldman Sachs's survival and continued dominance were attributed in part to Blankfein's management decisions and the firm's risk management practices.

However, the crisis also cast a long shadow over Blankfein's public legacy. Goldman Sachs faced investigations, lawsuits, and sustained public criticism regarding its pre-crisis activities, particularly its involvement in the packaging and sale of mortgage-backed securities. Blankfein's comment in a 2009 interview that the bank was doing "God's work" became one of the most quoted and debated remarks by any financial executive during the period.

In his post-CEO years, Blankfein has continued to engage in public commentary on financial markets, education, and economic policy. His memoir, Streetwise, published in 2026, represents an effort to present his personal account of a career that intersected with some of the most consequential events in modern financial history. In interviews promoting the book, Blankfein reflected on both his working-class origins and his time at the helm of Goldman Sachs, telling The Wall Street Journal that he particularly misses the role during periods of market crisis. His public advocacy for the value of higher education, even as prominent figures in the technology sector have questioned the necessity of college degrees, has also contributed to ongoing debates about education and social mobility in the United States.