What is Robert Rubin's Net Worth?
Robert Rubin is an American economist and banking executive who has a net worth of $200 million. Robert Rubin earned his fortune through a long career in finance, first at Goldman Sachs then at Citigroup. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1966 and became a general partner in 1971. Rubin was Vice Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs from 1987 to 1990. Rubin oversaw the loosening of financial industry underwriting guidelines which had been intact since the 1930s. From the end of 1990 to 1992, Rubin served as Co-Chairman and Co-Senior Partner.
Outside of his banking career Rubin is known for holding several positions in government. From January 25, 1993, to January 10, 1995, Robert Rubin served in the White House as Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Rubin was Secretary of the Treasury from January 11, 1995 – July 2, 1999. Rubin is credited with being integral to the economic prosperity of the Clinton era, although some critics later argued that his bank-friendly policies contributed to the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Upon leaving the White House in 1999, Rubin was named Chairman of the Board of Citigroup. He was paid $21 million in his first year. He then made $50 million in the next two years. Between 2007 and 2009 alone, a time when the global financial system collapsed, Rubin earned $126 million in salary and compensation. Critics would later say that Rubin made $126 million, while the rest of the financial world imploded… thanks largely to policies he put forth during his years as Secretary of the Treasury, with the loosening or removing of various financial regulations and guardrails. As "The Black Swan" author Nassim Nicholas Taleb put it in an interview in the wake of the financial collapse: "He made $120 million from Citibank, which was technically insolvent. And now we, the taxpayers, are paying for it." The US government ultimately gave Citigroup a $45 billion bailout and made $300 billion worth of other guarantees to save the company from failure right at the time when Robert was earning $100+ million.
Early Life and Education
Robert Rubin was born on August 29, 1938 in New York City to Jewish parents Sylvia and Alexander. When he was young, he moved with his parents to Miami Beach, Florida, where he attended Miami Beach High School. For his higher education, Rubin went to Harvard College, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in economics in 1960. He went on to attend Harvard Law School for three days before dropping out. Wishing to see the world, Rubin subsequently attended the London School of Economics, and then came back to the US to attend Yale Law School.
Career Beginnings
After graduating from Yale Law in 1964, Rubin became an attorney at the New York City firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. He remained there until 1966, when he joined Goldman Sachs as an associate in the risk arbitrage department. Eventually, Rubin moved up to co-COO of Goldman Sachs, and in 1990 became co-chairman. Meanwhile, he served on the boards of directors of the New York Stock Exchange and the US Securities and Exchange Commission Market Oversight and Financial Services Advisory Committee.
Clinton Administration
Rubin joined the Clinton administration in 1993 in the role of Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. During his two years in that position, he directed the National Economic Council, which Clinton had created to coordinate policy recommendations going into his office. Rubin was credited with making the NEC succeed. He was also central in the creation of Clinton's 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, which contributed to the budget surplus and economic prosperity that characterized the latter half of the decade. Due to his successes, Rubin was nominated by Clinton to become the next US Secretary of the Treasury, a position he assumed in 1995. In his role, Rubin was credited with being a driving force behind the country's economic growth, including its near full-employment and bullish stock markets. He worked to balance the budget, leading to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
Among his other contributions as US Secretary of the Treasury, Rubin was a major proponent of investing in distressed rural and urban communities. He advocated for more community development financial institutions in order to invest in inner cities and boost the CDFI Fund. Additionally, Rubin assisted in the Clinton administration's plans to increase empowerment and enterprise zones throughout the US, which would provide tax breaks for businesses in the zones. Elsewhere, he supported the repealing of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had been instituted in 1933 to impose restrictions on the activities of commercial and investment banks. The Act, which he argued was archaic, was successfully repealed after Rubin's resignation from the Clinton administration in July of 1999.
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Citigroup
After leaving the government, Rubin joined the leadership at Citigroup. He joined the company in September 1999 with a guaranteed first-year salary of $15 million PLUS unlimited use of the firm's fleet of private jets. He wound up making $20 million per year in his first three years at Citigroup. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, between 2007 and 2009, a time when the global financial world collapsed, Robert was paid $126 million by Citigroup. Around this time a group of investors filed a lawsuit alleging that Rubin and other Citigroup executives sold shares at inflated prices while concealing the firm's risks. Rubin resigned from the firm in 2009, and in 2012 the lawsuit was settled.
Citigroup itself collapsed and ultimately needed $45 billion worth of TARP bailout money PLUS $300 billion worth of other asset guarantees from the Federal government.
Other Work
In his other post-government activities, Rubin served as a member of the Harvard Corporation board from 2002 to 2014, and in 2018 began serving on its finance committee. He also co-founded the Hamilton Project, an economic policy think tank. Elsewhere, Rubin serves as a trustee of Mount Sinai Health System, co-chair of the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and as a senior counselor at the investment banking advisory firm Centerview Partners.
Criticism Around the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis
Although he was integral in fostering the economic prosperity of the late 90s, Rubin was later criticized by many analysts for having a hand in the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Specifically, the advice he gave to Clinton against regulating credit derivatives was seen as a contributing factor to the crisis. Rubin was also criticized for his risk-taking at Citigroup, which had exposed the bank to losses that were compounded by policies he had promoted when he was Secretary of the Treasury.
Personal Life
With his wife Judith (née Oxenberg), Rubin has two sons named James and Philip. The family belonged to Temple Beth Sholom on Miami Beach for many years.
