From $11 in His Pocket to CEO of Goldman Sachs | Lloyd Blankfein

Lloyd Blankfein went from public housing in East New York to the top of Goldman Sachs, which he led from 2006 to 2018, through the worst financial crisis since the Depression. In this conversation with Harvard Dean David Deming, the former Goldman CEO argues that the next big crisis will be harder to contain than 2008, because reform has spread risk beyond the reach of regulators; that the worst move an ambitious young person can make is to skip college to chase money and fame; and that Harvard punches below its weight in making its case to the country it helped found. Along the way: the $500 check from the financial-aid office that changed how he saw Harvard, the trading floor where a man kept calling him "college boy," the "vampire squid," the $550 million SEC settlement, and the law of conservation of risk that tells him to get out of town before the big one. Lloyd Blankfein is the Senior Chairman of Goldman Sachs, where he served as Chairman and CEO from 2006 to 2018, and the author of the memoir Streetwise: Getting to and Through Goldman Sachs. He graduated from Harvard College in 1975 and Harvard Law School in 1978. Subscribe to The Context Window with David Deming: https://thecontextwindowpodcast.subst... CHAPTERS 0:00:00 Cold open 0:00:20 Introduction 0:01:15 Writing it straight 0:03:55 The desire to escape, and the dock 0:06:10 Humor as risk management 0:09:30 Harvard at sixteen 0:11:45 The first time he wasn't counting 0:14:10 Eleven dollars and a $500 check 0:15:45 Room on the balance sheet 0:17:25 The Thiel fellowship test 0:20:05 Butter-churning boot camps 0:21:20 "I never had to source my motivation" 0:23:15 Why he left the law 0:26:45 "College boy" 0:30:10 What it means to be a partner 0:32:40 Worth manipulating 0:36:55 "Improve its performance" 0:41:35 The call on Memorial Day weekend 0:46:05 "Get up there with those guys" 0:49:15 Mark-to-market 0:53:55 Frenemies in the room 0:56:40 The law of conservation of risk 0:58:45 "You're just money" 1:01:25 The vampire squid 1:04:10 Settling with the regulator 1:06:10 The daily voicemail 1:09:55 "What are you afraid of, Lloyd?" 1:12:55 Harvard's reputational crisis 1:15:05 Who owns Harvard? 1:16:55 An American institution 1:19:55 "I love the place. I don't know if it reciprocates." 1:21:55 Is Harvard a force for good? MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Streetwise: Getting to and Through Goldman Sachs by Lloyd Blankfein: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo... "The Great American Bubble Machine" by Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone, 2009): https://www.rollingstone.com/politics... The SEC's announcement of Goldman's $550 million settlement (2010): https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2010/... The Rise and Risks of Private Credit (IMF Global Financial Stability Report, 2024): https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/G... The Thiel Fellowship: https://thielfellowship.org/ David Deming: https://daviddeming.com/ – ABOUT THE CONTEXT WINDOW The Context Window is hosted by David Deming, Danoff Dean of Harvard College. Executive Producer: Denise Koller Consulting Producers: Tim Smith and Jonathan Palumbo Produced by Cabin 3 Media - Katie Toulmin, Producer; Justin Callahan, Director of Photography / Editor #lloydblankfein #goldmansachs #harvard #financialcrisis #wallstreet #2008crisis #liberalarts #podcast #thecontextwindow #daviddeming