Gary Cohn for Head of National Economic Council

After Headhunting Steve Mnuchin for Secretary of Treasury, Trump might have his eyes on no other than the COO and 2nd man of Goldman, Gary Cohn for Head of National Economic Council.

Cohn has been long rumored to lead Goldman after the departure of its current CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, which has given no hint so far of any plans to depart anytime soon. Cohn was also rumored to have grown impatient waiting for any evolution and this move might sound reasonable to him, as any move to government posts has its special financial incentives as well.

Goldman is starting to have a very strong record for placing its executives in top government posts, let's take Henry Paulson or Mario Draghi, the Head of ECB for example.

Im guessing that soon, we would see monkeys posting things like:
Q&A: Target School -> IB Analyst -> Top 15 MBA -> MD BB -> Secretary of Treasury' hahaha

jokes aside, thoughts on these placements?

55 Comments
 

Butt Hurt is real. Drain the Swamp is in reference to lobbyists. Who exactly is Trump supposed to nominate for these roles?

I'm sure you'd be so supportive if Trump picked Joe the Plumber to run State or Treasury.

 

not tryna argue with you bro (notice I haven't responded to your Pro-Russia drivel), don't really give a fuck either way. I'm sure that the people who voted for him due to populism are overjoyed that his economic policy will be run by Goldman Sachs bankers and his foreign policy will be overseen by the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, possibly the most globalist company in the world.

Array
 

I don't really know anything about this guy and I'm sure he's brilliant, but come on--there are brilliant men and women all over the nation who could serve in these posts (heck, there are brilliant non-Goldman people in NYC if that's Trump's thing). How in the world does Goldman Sachs have such disproportionate influence in both Dem and GOP administrations? I mean, Goldman Sachs went out of its way to back Hillary Clinton, for goodness sake. I thought for once that corrupt financial institution would find itself on the outs. Guess not.

Array
 

My guess it that it is actually far more simple than we think... If you had a friend who was definitely qualified for a job in your company, and you knew they may be looking for something, wouldn't you recommend them?

...
 
"realjackryan"

Man Virginia, I usually really see your posts as very fair-minded. Maybe it's just wishful thinking but the banks own the parties, not the other way around.

Besides, there are a few arguments (although not great ones) for the role of international investment banking partnering with US government... Worked well during and after WWII anyway.

Again, I'm not disputing the validity of having bankers involved in the federal government, but the revolving door between government and Goldman Sachs is conspicuous, to put it kindly.

Array
 

I agree that on the surface these appointments don't look great (bankers and CEOs). However, who is he supposed to nominate? In my mind the only people qualified for these posts are lifelong politicians or extremely successful business leaders. There are some politicians that I'd be ok with taking these positions, but by and large I am against rewarding lifelong politicians with these jobs. By process of elimination and meeting requisite experience, I'd be nominating a lot of business leaders as well.

I dont pretend to know much about him, but I may have found someone other than Tillerson if I were Trump, if only for perception.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 

I would have loved for Trump to nominate the BB&T head. Although his austrian economic beliefs wouldn't have caused the market to go nuts.

And I think Trump was looking at a lot of well qualified people.

End of the day, if he can roll back some of the Dodd Frank legislation and make it easier for smaller/mid-sized banks to exist, I think this will be a benefit to main street as well as wall street.

GS is parasitic though, I agree. But I suppose you could make the same argument for all the TBTF banks. And with the recent press, which big banker was going to really compete for this role? BB&T CEO is too radical. Wells Fargo fucked itself with its recent bad press. Dimon said he didn't want the role. So now you have GS, MS, BAML and maybe some others.

 

Yeah, I dont know anything about Gary Cohn, so I'm certainly not cheerleading this appointment. However, for Secretary of Treasury specifically, it almost has to be someone from Financial Services. Not saying it should be another person from GS, but 2nd in Charge of a large financial institution seems to fit the bill.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
Best Response

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Cohn_(investment_banker)

Very interesting background. While a GS alumnus, he didn't take the typical Ivy League path. American University, deep Ohio roots (I am sure the swing state will love the love).

"Cohn started his career at the U.S. Steel home products division in Cleveland, Ohio.7 After a few months, he left U.S. Steel and started his career as an options dealer in the New York Mercantile Exchange.7 He lied to the hiring manager of the options department about his experience in options trading when he had none. He taught himself the basics of options by reading about it in the days between meeting the hiring manager and joining the New York Mercantile Exchange."

Love this gem:

"Critics of Cohn attribute to him an arrogant, aggressive, abrasive and risk-prone work style. They see his "6-foot 3-inch & 220lbs" as intimidating, as he might "sometimes hike up one leg, plant his foot on a trader's desk, his thigh close to the employee's face and ask how markets were doing"

This should be a big message to the markets that we are open for business. Trump rally continues!

 

Perferendis id deserunt sint. Corporis consequatur quidem provident quis esse possimus. Consequatur cum expedita incidunt repellat. Id reprehenderit autem quis commodi magnam necessitatibus minima. Recusandae velit maxime ab. Dolor qui provident dolor occaecati modi deleniti ut. Blanditiis fugiat qui excepturi velit est.

Sunt ab est velit. Praesentium aut ut voluptas dolorum labore. Quis iste placeat exercitationem enim.

Fugit dicta officia et dolores culpa sed sed. Beatae recusandae magni doloremque quasi aut in. Neque eum odit in perspiciatis ullam ad quidem quod. Perferendis incidunt corporis molestiae consequatur. Qui eaque quae iure id itaque aut beatae.

Cupiditate laborum voluptas sunt quaerat. Rem porro vitae reprehenderit asperiores in quis illum soluta. Rerum maiores quam eius iusto. Id laudantium aut corrupti non. Nostrum et et quaerat totam.

 

Possimus molestiae sit veniam saepe voluptatibus dignissimos. Molestiae tenetur non excepturi exercitationem velit autem mollitia molestiae. Recusandae ducimus voluptas rerum quisquam labore quo. Maiores doloribus similique harum vitae non. Veritatis deserunt dolores illo non. Ea sint tempore rem nam cupiditate non cumque.

Veritatis molestias veritatis vel quia. Molestias nisi voluptates neque accusamus tenetur veniam. Libero iusto facilis est libero accusantium. Hic exercitationem atque vitae distinctio ex ut mollitia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”