Lloyd Blankfein Biography and Photos

Lloyd Craig Blankfein (born September 20, 1954 in the Bronx, New York City) is the current Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. After the May 31, 2006 nomination of former CEO Hank Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury, Blankfein was announced as his replacement.

Blankfein was raised in Brooklyn's Linden Houses, part of the New York City Housing Authority. His father was a clerk with the Postal Service in Manhattan. He received primary and secondary education in the public schools of the New York City Department of Education, and was a valedictorian at Thomas Jefferson High School in 1971. He attended Harvard College, where he lived in Winthrop House, and earned his A.B. in 1975, and in 1978 received a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Blankfein worked as a corporate tax lawyer for the law firm Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine. In 1981, he joined Goldman's commodities trading arm, J. Aron, as a gold bar and coin salesman.

He is the Gala Chairman of the Rockefeller family's Asia Society in New York. He also serves on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization seeking to alleviate poverty in New York.

Blankfein earned a total of $53.4 million in 2006, making him one of the highest paid executives on Wall Street. His bonus reflected the performance of Goldman Sachs, which reported record net earnings of $9.5 billion. The compensation included a cash bonus of $27.3 million, with the rest paid in stock and options. Blankfein earned a total of US$67.9 million in 2007, he will receive US$26.8 million in cash, and US$41.1 million in restricted stock and options.

He now resides in New York with his wife, Laura Jacobs Blankfein, an attorney, and four children: Alexander-David, Jonathan, Rachael and Xandar. He is a member at Manhattan Woods Golf Club in West Nyack, NY.

Though speculated in social circles in New York City, his wife, Laura Jacobs Blankfein, is not related to New York Giants player Brandon Jacobs.