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Gary Cohn

Gary David Cohn (born August 27, 1960) is an American businessman and philanthropist who served as the 11th Director of the National Economic Council and chief economic advisor to President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2018.[2][3][4] He managed the administration's economic policy agenda. Before serving in the White House, Cohn was president and COO of Goldman Sachs, where he worked for more than 25 years.[5] Cohn was appointed vice-chairman of IBM on January 5, 2021.[6]

This article is about the former COO of Goldman Sachs and director of the National Economic Council. For other people, see Gary Cohn (disambiguation).

Gary Cohn

Gary David Cohn

(1960-08-27) August 27, 1960
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Lisa Pevaroff
(m. 1986)

3

Following his White House service, Cohn became an advisor and venture capital investor for companies operating in the cybersecurity, blockchain infrastructure, and medical technology sectors. He is on the Board of Advisors for Hoyos Integrity, a startup company employing biometric blockchain technology for secure communications and digital payments, and vice chairman of IBM.[7][8] Cohn is also the chairman of the advisory board at Pallas Advisors, a national security strategic advisory firm based in Washington, D.C.[9]

Early life and education[edit]

Gary Cohn was born to an Eastern European Jewish family,[10][11] the son of Victor and Ellen Cohn,[12] and was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio. His father was an electrician who later became a real estate developer.[13] Cohn was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, and attended four schools by the time he reached the sixth grade.[14] Cohn's childhood experiences with dyslexia were a featured case study in David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.[15] Cohn studied at Gilmour Academy, and attended American University's Kogod School of Business, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1982.

Venture capital[edit]

Following his departure from the White House, Cohn became an advisor and venture capital investor for companies in the cybersecurity, blockchain, and digital payments sectors. He is on the Board of Spring Labs, a startup using blockchain technology to share consumer credit data,[44] and Sotera Digital Security, a company that has created a mobile phone for secure communications.[45] Cohn is also a key advisor for Machine Zone[46] and Abryx, a biomaterial science company.[47] At Sotera Digital, Cohn is deeply involved in the strategy and rollout of a next-generation secure mobile phone aimed at government and corporate customers.


In April 2020, Cohn was appointed to the Risk & Governance Advisory Board of Starling, and technology company in applied behavior sciences.[48]


In August 2020, Cohn and investor Clifton S. Robbins launched Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp.[49]

Harvard Kennedy School[edit]

In 2019, Cohn was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School[50] where he taught a seminar alongside former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp on economic, demographic, and national security policy.[51] Cohn and Heitkamp focused on structural economic and demographic issues. Spring 2019 Fellows at the Institute included Mayor Andrew Gillum, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu.[52]


While at Harvard, Cohn was the lead sponsor for the Road to 2092: Save Social Security, the first policy hackathon organized by the Harvard Institute of Politics.[53] The competition featured over 250 students from 28 universities; the winning team presented their policy brief at the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and was also featured on MSNBC.[54]

on C-SPAN

Appearances