Gary Gensler is the SEC Chairman and US government official. At the same time, he joined Goldman Sachs, becoming the youngest partner in this company. Gensler has been described as “one of the leading reformers after the financial crisis”.
Who is Gary Gensler?
Gary Gensler is a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who served as an American government official and chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Born October 18, 1957, Gensler previously led the Federal Reserve, Banking and Securities Regulators agency review team of the Biden-Harris transition. Prior to his appointment, he was Professor of Global Economics and Management Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Gensler served from 1997-99 as the 11th chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under President Barack Obama from May 26, 2009 to January 3, 2014. Prior to his career in federal government, Gensler was associate and co-chairman of finance at Goldman Sachs. He also served as the CFO for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. President Joe Biden has nominated Gensler to serve as the 33rd chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Afterwards, Gensler replaced Allison Lee as SEC Acting Chairman.
Gensler was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Jewish family, one of five children to Jane and Sam Gensler. Sam Gensler was a salesman of cigarettes and pinball machines at local bars. This was the first time Gary was introduced to the real world side of finance through vending machines when he was taken to bars in Baltimore by his father.
Gensler graduated from Pikesville High School in 1975, where he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni award. He spent three years at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with the highest honors in economics, earning a master’s in business administration the following year. Gensler’s identical twin also studied at the University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate, Gensler joined the University of Pennsylvania crew crew as helmsman, reducing the weight to 112 pounds to keep the boat at its proper weight.
In 1979, Gensler joined Goldman Sachs, where he spent 18 years. At the age of 30, he became one of the youngest people to partner with the firm at the time. He spent the 1980s working as a top M&A banker, taking charge of Goldman’s efforts to advise media companies. He then moved to commerce and finance in Tokyo, where he managed the company’s fixed income foreign exchange business.
While at Goldman Sachs, Gensler led a team advising the National Football League on getting the most lucrative deal in television history at the time, when the NFL secured a $3.6 billion deal selling the sports television rights.
Gensler’s last role at Goldman Sachs was co-head of finance, worldwide controllers and treasury. Gensler left Goldman 18 years later when he was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
He subsequently served on the board of directors of the nonprofit university Strayer Education, Inc., from 2001 to 2009.
Gensler served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets from 1997 to 1999, and then as Undersecretary of State for Domestic Finance from 1999 to 2001. In 1999 and 2000, under then Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, Gensler fought for the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted over-the-counter derivatives from regulation.
Responsible for Domestic Finance as Under-Secretary of the Treasury, Gensler advised Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers on domestic finance-related matters, including formulating policy and legislation in the areas of financial institutions, public debt management, capital markets, government financial management services, and helped.
While serving at the Treasury Department, Gensler was awarded the agency’s highest honor, the Alexander Hamilton Award, for his service.
President-elect Barack Obama announced on December 18, 2008, his intention to nominate Gensler to serve as the 11th president of the CFTC. His nomination was formally submitted to the U.S. Senate on January 20, 2009. Some initial opposition to Gensler’s nomination among progressive members of the Democratic party group, Gensler was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with an 88-6 approval vote. Gensler was sworn in on May 26, 2009, and pledged to work “to urgently close loopholes in our laws to reduce risks, strengthen and bring much-needed transparency and regulation to the over-the-counter derivatives market.” Gensler has been described as “one of the leading reformers after the financial crisis.”
