Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor

Portfolio > Economy & Markets > Economic Trends

Goldman’s Cohn Said to Be Trump’s Top Choice for NEC Director

By Dakin Campbell, Saleha Mohsin

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Gary Cohn, once the heir apparent to Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, is the top candidate to become President-elect Donald Trump’s chief economic policy advisor, people familiar with the decision said.

Cohn, who spent more than 25 years at the investment bank, is being considered by Trump to head the National Economic Council, among the most influential panels inside the White House, helping to coordinate and develop the president’s economic program. The move would strengthen the Wall Street firm’s influence in Washington while clearing the way for its next generation of leaders.

Cohn didn’t immediately respond to phone and e-mail messages seeking comment. Jake Siewert, a Goldman Sachs spokesman, declined to comment.

Cohn, 56, would be the third and most senior Goldman Sachs alumnus to take a prominent role in the incoming administration, despite the president-elect’s fierce criticism of Wall Street and the bank in particular on the campaign trail.

Cohn became Goldman Sachs’s co-president in 2006, and later sole president, holding an office that in recent decades has been used to groom the next CEO. Both Blankfein and his predecessor, Henry Paulson, served as presidents of the company before ascending to the top spot. But after 10 years there, Blankfein has signaled no intention of stepping down, leaving Cohn to explore other opportunities.

The NEC was set up as a counterpart to the president’s National Security Council. The group of economic advisers overseen by a director is expected to represent the president’s interests and serve as an honest broker among competing agencies and departments. Some directors have spearheaded top presidential initiatives.

Past directors include two former Goldman Sachs leaders, Robert Rubin and Stephen Friedman. Rubin went on to become Treasury secretary. His deputy and successor in that post, Larry Summers, later led the council as well. Its current leader, Jeff Zeints, is a former management consultant.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.