Robert E. Rubin

Robert Edward Rubin (born August 29, 1938) is an American retired banking executive, lawyer, and former government official. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration. Before his government service, he spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs, eventually serving as a member of the board and co-chairman from 1990 to 1992.

Rubin is credited as a force behind Clinton-era economic prosperity, including the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act and Balanced Budget Act of 1997. However, critics of Rubin have since argued that the bank-friendly policies he supported contributed to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. As of 2022, Rubin is active in several organizations, including as a co-founder of The Hamilton Project, as co-chair emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, and as a senior counselor at Centerview Partners.

Rubin was born on August 29, 1938, in New York City to Jewish parents Sylvia (née Seiderman) and Alexander Rubin. He moved to Miami Beach, Florida, at an early age and graduated from Miami Beach High School. In 1960, Rubin graduated with an A.B. summa cum laude in economics from Harvard College. He then attended Harvard Law School for three days before leaving to see the world. He later attended the London School of Economics and received an LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1964.

Rubin was an attorney at the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York City from 1964 to 1966 before joining Goldman Sachs in 1966 as an associate in the risk arbitrage department. He later served as co-chief operating officer, and became co-senior partner and co-chairman in 1990. Rubin served as New York finance chairman for the Walter Mondale presidential campaign in 1984 and headed the host committee for the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York.

He served on the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Market Oversight and Financial Services Advisory Committee, and advisory panels for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and Mayor David Dinkins.