eFinancialCareers

What is it?

HE is a tall man with no hair. Hank Paulson is also the Treasury secretary, former chief executive of investment bank Goldman Sachs, and an avid bird watcher.

What’s he got to do with the financial crisis?

Since becoming US Treasury Secretary on 30 May 2006, Hank has had a fairly tempestuous time of it. His watch has seen the collapse or near collapse of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Washington Mutual, Fannie and Freddie, Merrill Lynch and the entire US financial system.

Hank’s biggest feats to date have involved bailouts. Specifically, he engineered the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the formation of an enormous $700bn fund to buy up toxic assets.

Although Hank’s time at Goldman has undoubtedly given him an unparallelled insight into the problems faced by investment banks during the credit crunch, some argue that Hank is a little too close to the issue to have a neutral perspective. He left Goldman worth an estimated $700m after being obliged to sell his stock (close to the top of the market) when he left to join the Treasury.

Last updated 28 September 2008.

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