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Charlie Rose Interviews Goldman CEO Paulson
When public television’s Charlie Rose asked Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Henry M. (“Hank”) Paulson Jr. (MBA ’70) whether his firm, a pure investment bank, could survive in a world dominated by consolidations, Paulson didn’t miss a beat: “You bet we can.”
Rose’s rapid-fire questions for Paulson covered everything from the state of the U.S. stock market, to work-life balance, to international capital markets. The spirited conversation was one of two sessions held on campus that aired on the Charlie Rose show in the spring.
Rose, who described Paulson as a good friend, began by congratulating him on Goldman’s recently published first quarter results. “The economy feels better than it did a year ago,” replied Paulson with caution. “Things have turned, but our business is lumpy. You can’t extrapolate too much from the last quarter.” Of the market in general, Paulson said, “I am more encouraged than discouraged.”
As one of the key business leaders who has spoken out about corporate responsibility, Paulson praised the free-market system and cautioned that the United States must be careful not to go too far in the direction of regulation. “Five years ago, 50 percent of the world’s money was invested in U.S. capital markets; today it is 33 percent,” said Paulson. “Foreign investors are finding our markets less attractive,” he warned, and later noted that there is a danger that the United States “may suffocate” from overregulation.
Paulson then took questions from the mostly student audience, which included several previous Goldman employees. One former Goldman analyst asked how work-life balance — which Paulson urged his audience to seek — can be achieved when a job demands more than sixty hours a week. After admitting it was a fair point, Paulson said, “People need to learn to say no. I know it’s not easy in our industry and in our firm, but wherever you go it’s going to be hard.” Paulson then offered a personal note about when his children were one and three years old. “My wife made it clear to me that if I didn’t come home earlier, one day I’d get home and she wouldn’t be there — but the kids would,” he said with a laugh. From then on he took the 4:42 p.m. train home, gave his kids a bath, and read them stories before continuing to work after they’d gone to sleep.
Another former Goldman employee thanked Paulson for his leadership during the difficult times of 2001 and 2002 and asked what he’d learned from that period. “Nothing is ever as good as it seems or as bad as it seems,” replied Paulson, adding a second important lesson from the corporate scandals that have unfolded: “You can’t have too much training about integrity.”
