10 Things You Didn't Know About Gary Gensler

Gary Gensler is a former Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Former President Barack Obama has appointed him to be in charge of the new Office of Financial Research. He was instrumental in developing and implementing reforms following the 2008 financial crisis. Here are 10 things you didn't know about Gary Gensler's life.

1. Born in a Jewish Family

Gary Gensler was born and raised in a Jewish family. He remembers his childhood as being filled with the love of his family. He has four siblings that he is very close to, including one sister who also went on to work at Goldman Sachs as Gary did. He started working for Goldman Sachs when he was 16 years old. That's not common now because in the past, many laws have been passed which made it hard for people that young to work. He met his wife while they were both working there; she was an analyst too! Together they have two children: one girl named Lauren and one boy named Josh.

2. Extraordinary Education

Gary Gensler went to the University of Pennsylvania. When he graduated, he had a summa cum laude degree. He then went on to obtain a J.D from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A from Yale University before joining Goldman Sachs in 1990 for their fixed income division.

3. Goldman Sachs Alumnus

Gensler spent his early career at Goldman Sachs. Charles Gensler spent his early career as a banker for the investment bank and securities firm, Goldman Sachs & Co. He eventually became partner-in-charge of equity research in Tokyo. From 1989 until 1993 he was the head of Asia Pacific Operations. From 1994 to 1997, he was a senior partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs. Gensler worked at Goldman Sachs for 18 years and he was the co-head of its risk assessment committee. Gensler helped the bank turn around when he was there. He got nicknames like "Mr. Clean" and "The Kindly Prosecutor."

4. Bloomberg Markets Magazines Recognized

Gensler has been recognized by Bloomberg Markets Magazine as one of the 50 most influential people on wall street. The magazine ranked Gensler at number 16, which is above CEOs from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

5. Chairman of the CFTC

He became Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 1997-2014. He has helped to make financial reform legislation for the derivatives market. He also makes sure it is enforced and overseen. Gary has also advised several presidential administrations on economic policy matters. He is an expert in risk management practices for banks, brokers/ dealers, and exchanges. He helped make rules that tell these organizations what they can do when they trade in the United States. This person oversees new rules that affect how people trade derivatives. This person needs to make sure they get as much money as they can from the people trading these things. They can charge more if they need to. He helped with the 2008 financial crisis. That is what led him to be the Chairman of President Obama's Working Group on Financial Markets.

6. Undersecretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance

Gary Gensler is the Undersecretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance. He was the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 - 2001. This is when he oversaw things like finances, international affairs, economics, banks, and communities. Gary was a member of the Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession in 1998. Gary Gensler was an advisor to President Bill Clinton and a consultant with Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York City before joining the Treasury Department. He also worked as a director for Leadership for Quality Government Inc. Gary was a professor before he worked for the government. He taught courses on investments, corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, and securities regulation.

7. Senior Deputy Director

Gary Gensler has been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate to be a deputy director for the Department of Economic Cooperation. Timothy Geithner was going to be a new chairman. But he could not start his job until January 20, 2010. So, Gary Gensler acted as the chairman from December 2010 until January 20, 2010. That was when Timothy Geithner became the real chairman. Gary Gensler started working at the BEC on July 10, 2009. He left in May 2014 after four years of service.

8. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets

Gensler was appointed the assistant secretary of the Treasury for financial markets in 1997 and served until June 30, 2006. He supervised over a dozen agencies. One is The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO).

9. Led Regulatory Response to the Tech Bubble

In 1999, Gensler led a team that regulated the financial markets. Bubbles happened and they helped make them less bad. During this period of time, he was tough on rules and aggressive with enforcement. He wanted stronger regulations.

10. Robert M. Gates Chair

Gary Gensler is currently the Robert M. Gates Chair in Manufacturing Policy at The Brookings Institution where he studies how new technologies are impacting manufacturing policy and economic development. He is a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and he used to be on the faculty. Gensler's research interests include many different topics. One of these is industrial policy. Another way to make the world like more U.S. products is by innovating in manufacturing. This will help companies trade better with other countries. They can sell more of their products there.

Conclusion

So where is Gary Gensler Now? Gensler is currently a member of the New York Fed's Financial Technology Advisory Group and has been chairman of Maryland's Financial Consumer Protection Commission. He is also now the director of Ripple although he is not an investor in XRP tokens.