REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Gary Cohn, the former chief operating officer and president of Goldman Sachs, has become a key figure in President Donald Trump's administration.
As director of the National Economic Council, he is seen as the driving force behind proposed business-friendly and economically stimulative policies on taxes and infrastructure.
On Thursday, a rumor that Cohn was quitting his role spooked the market, sending stocks lower. The rumor seemed plausible after multiple reports suggested that Cohn was "upset" and "disgusted" with Trump's press conference on Tuesday addressing the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"We firmly believe that if Mr. Cohn departs the White House there will be a material market sell-off as he is running point on tax reform and considered as a front-runner to replace Federal Reserve Chair Yellen," Isaac Boltansky, an analyst at Compass Point, said in a note to clients.
Here's how Cohn, who bounced around from school to school as a young boy because "no one understood how to deal with a dyslexic kid," ended up as a key player on Wall Street and in the White House:
Cohn's grandfather was a Polish immigrant who moved to the US on his own as a 13-year-old with $8 in his pocket. He worked three jobs, was an apprentice electrician, and ended up opening his own business. Cohn would later work there.Public Record Office of Northern Ireland/FlickrSource: Goldman Sachs
Cohn grew up in Cleveland in the 1960s in a middle-class family. He "bounced around from school to school because really no one understood how to deal with a dyslexic kid," he told colleague Jake Siewart in a podcast.Wikimedia Commons
Source: Goldman Sachs
A teacher told Cohn's parents that "if they were really lucky and spent a lot of time' with Cohn, he might 'grow up to be a truck driver."REUTERS/Jim Young
Source: Business Insider
He ended up at Gilmour Academy, a Catholic school, where two brothers took an interest in his education. "I think they took an interest because I might have been the hardest-working kid in the class with the least amount of results," Cohn said.Gilmour Academy
Source: Goldman Sachs
He worked hard to get into college at American University, where he learned about time management. "You go to class less than 12 hours a week," he said. "If you can't figure out how to manage the rest of your time and get your work done, you should be questioning yourself."American University
Source: Goldman Sachs
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