Henry Paulson was born in Florida, USA, and grew up on a farm in the Midwestern farming town of Barrington, Illinois, where he still maintains a home. He is 6 feet tall, has a neat appearance and simple speech. He studied diligently in middle school. In 1964, he was admitted to Dartmouth University, one of the prestigious Ivy League schools in the eastern United States, and received a degree in English language. He is about 1.86 meters tall and is still an Ivy League student in the United States. One of the best football players in major schools.
In 1968, Paulson entered Harvard Business School and later received an MBA from Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1970, Paulson stepped into the Pentagon and served as a staff assistant to the Secretary of Defense. During President Nixon's term in office, he served as an assistant to the President's staff and a member of the White House House Committee. "Paulson is a bulldog, much like Cheney in his youth." Paulson's friends spoke with admiration of his early years in Washington, "He was a salesman among salesmen, and he was tough. and enthusiasm, which made him very efficient."
After the Watergate scandal in 1974, he joined the Chicago branch of Goldman Sachs as a banking assistant.
Promoted to partner in 1982.
In 1988, he was appointed managing partner of Goldman Sachs' Chicago office.
In 1993, he was promoted to the company’s regional managing partner in the Midwest investment banking region.
In 1996, he was appointed president and chief operating officer.
In May 1999, he officially became chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Group. Under Paulson's leadership, Goldman Sachs Group became Wall Street's most profitable investment bank. Although Goldman Sachs has only half as many employees as industry leader Merrill Lynch and third-place Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs ranked first in profits last year. In addition, since 2000, Goldman Sachs has maintained its No. 1 position in global M&A business.
When Paulson led Goldman Sachs, he not only won large securities underwriting orders, but also led Goldman Sachs into the commodity market. Become one of the largest speculators in commodity futures and invest in banking.
Paulson is also the most profitable banker on Wall Street. His salary income last year was US$38.3 million, which was higher than O'Neill of Merrill Lynch, Fuld of Lehman Brothers, Kane and Morgan of Bear Stearns. The heads of major investment banks such as Stanley's Mike are a step ahead. Not only that, Paulson is also the most generous boss on Wall Street. According to documents submitted by Goldman Sachs to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's 22,425 employees received a salary of US$11.7 billion in 2005***, with an average of US$521,000 per person. No one likes it on Wall Street. Under his leadership, Goldman Sachs became the most profitable securities firm in the United States. In 2005, Goldman Sachs, which has a history of more than 100 years, achieved a record profit of US$5.6 billion.
Paulson belongs to the "hawks" in the U.S. securities industry. He has been dormant at Goldman Sachs for more than 30 years. He is strict in "running the army" and has a tough approach. "(At Goldman Sachs) 15% to 20% of people create 80% of the company's value, so many people can be laid off without affecting the company's performance." Paulson's classic saying still makes most people Most Goldman Sachs employees were frightened. Although Paulson later apologized for his remarks, Goldman Sachs' "painful layoffs" did not stop. According to Fortune, its layoff ratio was second only to Merrill Lynch. With the support of unique concepts, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley have been the top three in the global investment banking industry for many years. Paulson himself has also become the most profitable boss on Wall Street. During his 32 years at Goldman Sachs, Paulson accumulated savings assets of over US$500 million. In 2005 alone, Paulson's annual salary was as high as $38.3 million. Just as Paulson was about to take up his new post and leave Goldman Sachs, the Goldman Sachs board of directors specially prepared a "big red envelope" of $18.7 million in cash for Paulson.
But as the head of Goldman Sachs, Paulson’s influence goes far beyond Goldman Sachs itself. In addition to taking charge of Goldman Sachs, Paulson also assumed public responsibility and launched a corporate governance movement on Wall Street. For example, in 2002, Paulson publicly severely criticized the malfeasance of U.S. listed companies; when the Grasso case broke out, he took the lead in opposing Grasso's salary structure of up to 140 million US dollars, advocating for the reorganization of the New York Stock Exchange board of directors, and he also Supports former Goldman Sachs CEO John Thain as CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. Paulson, the top boss at Goldman Sachs, has also become one of the most influential financial experts in the United States. In 2004, he topped the "Wall Street Power Ranking" selected by the American media and was dubbed the "King of Wall Street Power". President Bush really put in a lot of effort to recruit Paulson to the cabinet. When faced with Bush's invitation, Paulson's initial reaction was to politely decline because he did not want to be a "vase" or "mouthpiece." The first two Treasury secretaries under Bush, Paul O'Neill and John Snow, were not members of the president's decision-making circle, but were reduced to "salesmen" promoting the White House's tax cut policy. After O'Neill left office, he lamented that he was excluded from the White House decision-making circle and was in an insignificant position.
When Bush invited Paulson to be Treasury Secretary again, the two had a long conversation at the White House. Bush promised to give Paulson a greater role than the previous two Treasury Secretaries Snow and O'Neill. In terms of decision-making power on domestic and international economic policies, his substantive power will be equal to that of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, which finally made Paulson's heart move. Bush formally nominated Paulson as Treasury Secretary on May 30, 2006, replacing John Snow, who announced his resignation earlier that day.
Snow's departure is not unexpected. Within months, White House officials had privately rumored that he was about to "leave"; but Paulson's appointment was unexpected. It is said that the White House has been trying to "tempt" Paulson to become Treasury secretary, but he has turned down several attempts because the Bush cabinet appears to have downgraded the Treasury secretary's role to that of a "salesman."
Paulson once mentioned to friends that he became Treasury Secretary because "he should be able to do something", so he did not hesitate to give up his $38.3 million Wall Street position to take the post in Washington, where the latter's income was only 200,000 US dollars, a difference of nearly 200 times. Such a huge gap also shows that Paulson did not agree to serve as Treasury Secretary for money. After all, his shares in Goldman Sachs alone are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Soon, the autograph of "John W. Snow" printed on the US dollar banknotes known as "Greenbacks" was replaced by the words "Henry M. Paulson", which was also the oath of office of the United States. The first privilege given to Paulson as the new Treasury Secretary. Compared with previous Treasury Secretary taking office, Paulson's inauguration ceremony seems to have received special attention from Bush. The president even "rarely" (AP language) walked from the White House to the Treasury Building to attend the ceremony. In the past, he encountered similar Bush usually travels by car. When Bush announced Paulson's appointment, he praised Paulson for his "extremely rich business experience and deep understanding of the securities market, and his ability to see the economic situation clearly." "Paulson will be my key player in local and international economic policy. As chief adviser, we will maintain the same attitude to formulate appropriate policies for our people and continue to maintain the prosperity of the American economy."
"Another example of the Treasury-Wall Street alliance," said Paulson. After being appointed, Dr. Mei Xinyu from the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce of China said, "The power of this 'Communist Party' is too powerful, and Snow, who has a background in manufacturing and transportation, cannot handle it at all." "It should be said that Bush is We have to find this person.” Regarding Snow’s departure, Bloomberg News commented that “despite being highly praised, he has never become a true ‘insider’ in the Bush administration.”
Paulson said at the inauguration ceremony: "The development of the U.S. economy is closely connected with the global economy. We must work hard to promote trade and investment, promote reform and modernize the international financial market." He also said that he will do his best to make the U.S. economy continue to be " An example of dynamism, flexibility and openness."
On the day he issued his brief inauguration declaration, Paulson immediately convened a meeting with all members of the U.S. Treasury Department to explain to them his plans for the future work of the Treasury Department. Throughout the rest of the day, Paulson also held phone conversations with members of Congress, government colleagues, and senior financial officials from other countries. Paulson's appointment as Treasury Secretary not only means a substantial reduction in wealth, but also faces a very thorny problem - government budget deficits and foreign trade deficits that continue to set new records. Due to the surge in military spending and various related government expenditures driven by the Iraq War, coupled with several large-scale tax cuts by the Bush administration, the US government's annual budget deficit has exceeded US$400 billion. At the same time, the U.S. foreign trade deficit also grew to $742 billion last year, accounting for about 7% of U.S. GDP. A Gallup poll in mid-May this year showed that only 29% of Americans were satisfied with the economy.
According to Wall Street sources, Paulson became Treasury Secretary with the intention of following the example of his Goldman Sachs predecessor Robert Rubin, flexing his muscles in Washington, promoting a strong dollar, and injecting lasting vitality into the U.S. economy.
Despite facing various challenges such as time constraints and arduous tasks, as the first Treasury Secretary with a Wall Street background during the Bush term, Paulson's appointment still aroused great expectations from the outside world. "It was Bush who was begging him," said Qu Hongbin, chief economist of HSBC China. "Therefore, Paulson has the capital to bargain." Qu Hongbin said that Paulson should play more of an economic decision-making role instead of just To become a White House policy "propaganda" and "salesman" like his predecessor. Specifically, Paulson must take substantive measures in fiscal policy and "double-high" deficits to truly solve the current problems facing the U.S. economy through internal structural adjustments, Qu Hongbin said. "Blindly 'exporting' America's economic problems to other countries as in the past will not fundamentally improve global economic imbalances."
In any case, Paulson's nomination marks a significant An important shift for the White House. Bush has always been suspicious of people from Wall Street, preferring to appoint business people as New York's financial dignitaries. For example, one of his first two Treasury secretaries came from Alcoa (the aluminum giant) and the other came from a railroad company. Although Paulson does not have the blood of a British Protestant aristocrat, he represents the spirit of the Wall Street elite.
The Bush administration has been looking for a more effective spokesman for economic policy, and Paulson is one of the most suitable candidates.
The Economist said that his policy nature is mostly in line with Bushonomics: he is loyal to free trade and a staunch supporter of tax cuts. He once said that a major question facing the 21st century is how we can promote free trade without losing political support. He agrees with the progressive role of globalization and believes that “no matter where we stop or impede globalization, we will create trouble for more people.”
There was only one area where Paulson didn't get along with his new boss, though. He is deeply concerned about the environment and is the director of the Nature Conservancy, which supports the Kyoto Protocol as an effective way to stop global warming. In addition, he made Goldman Sachs the "greenest" company on Wall Street. His idea of ??"hugging trees" has also troubled some conservatives.
However, most people still feel pleased that George W. Bush has introduced such a Wall Street heavyweight into the cabinet. This at least means that, in the context of blind confidence in the strength of the US economy, White House officials have recognized what may be going wrong.
The U.S. fiscal deficit is getting bigger and bigger, the dollar has been falling, and financial markets are becoming more and more "excited." Until recently, George W. Bush counted on Greenspan to speak out in the event of a crisis. But now that Greenspan has left office, his successor, Bernanke, is still struggling to repair his credibility with the markets.
On the contrary, Paulson shines brightly on the majestic Wall Street. He controlled Goldman Sachs for 8 years, allowing it to earn extremely high profits; he also has a huge global network of interpersonal relationships, especially close contact with China. Since 1990, he has visited China no less than 70 times. Both Republicans and Democrats believe that once the market encounters trouble, Paulson will undoubtedly be the most suitable person to take the helm. The appointment was, in effect, a "credibility hire," as one insider put it.
The question now is, will this credibility last? Much depends on Paulson himself. It's possible that his success at Goldman Sachs will also bode well for success in Washington, but no one can guarantee that. Paulson's predecessor at Goldman Sachs, Stephen Friedman, ran economic policy in Bush's cabinet with little success. Moreover, Paulson also needs to become a "journeyman" from the beginning. Before becoming Treasury secretary, Rubin spent an additional two and a half years overseeing the economy in the Clinton administration.
No matter how great his personal abilities are, Paulson's success will ultimately be determined by the White House. That's because he can only win the market's respect if he is seen as central to economic policymaking. George W. Bush's first Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, wasted his credibility after making a series of stupid mistakes on the dollar issue. John Snow made none of these mistakes, but he was a cautious, thoughtful man who was in many ways unassuming.
However, since it became known that he was excluded from the policy-making circle, he has also lost the trust of Wall Street. He intended to advance tax reform, but was rebuffed by the White House. And in the context of this year's breakthrough in health care tax reform, Snow's imprint is basically invisible. From the White House's perspective, Snow's job is nothing more than playing a cheerleader or a salesman for Bush's tax cuts.
If Paulson is to become a strong Treasury secretary, he must avoid a similar fate. Of course it's not easy. The reason why Rubin won respect outside the government was simply because everyone knew that he had the final say in the government. The real trouble for Paulson now is that Bush has little time left in his second term, and he doesn't have much political capital to enact smart policies. Paulson may become Rubin's second, but the task ahead of him will be more difficult.