American banker who ran Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2018. He grew up in the housing projects of East New York, Brooklyn, where his mugger could be his neighbour. A bright student, he sent what he describes as a "moonshot" application to Harvard; they said yes. He went on to law school and a stint as a tax lawyer, before moving to a scrappy commodities firm. When that firm was bought by Goldman Sachs, he joined the bank and rose through its ranks.
Mr Blankfein took over as boss of Goldman just months before the global financial crisis erupted. He ran the firm as a merchant bank in the mould of John Pierpont Morgan: simultaneously advising, financing and investing, and trying to manage the conflicts of interest that arose. He was known for a cheeky, self-deprecating humour, though occasionally his quips backfired—notably when he told a journalist Goldman was doing "God's work". Rolling Stone memorably called Goldman a "vampire squid" during the crisis, and the firm became a favoured target of the Occupy Wall Street movement. He is a lifelong Democrat.
There are only two things in this world that I am sure of, death and taxes, and we just might do something about death one of these days.