Famous 20th Century Bankers

Ben Bernanke is an American economist who served two terms as the chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 to 2014, during which he supervised the Federal Reserve's response to the global financial crisis (GFC). For his efforts during GFC, Ben Bernanke was named Time Person of the Year in 2009.

The son of a banker father, Italian economist Mario Draghi initially served as the president of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Italy governor, and is the current prime minister of Italy. The media named him Super Mario for efficiently handling the Eurozone debt crisis.

After his 13-year stint with Goldman Sachs, Mark Carney served as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. He was also part of the Canadian finance department. He is an ice-hockey lover and played the sport actively during the school and university days.

Edmond James de Rothschild was a French businessman with deep connections to the Rothschild banking family. He was a strong supporter of Zionism and donated significant amounts that went towards the establishment of the State of Israel. He also provided funds for the foundation of the Friends of the French National Museum of Natural History Society. 

Amadeo Giannini was an American banker best remembered for founding the Bank of Italy, which later became Bank of America. He is credited with inventing numerous modern banking practices. Amadeo Giannini is also credited with establishing one of the first trans-national institutions.

Jamie Dimon is an American business executive, currently serving as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the largest of the popular American banks, JPMorgan Chase. He is among the few bank chief executives in the world to become a billionaire. In 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2011, Jamie Dimon was named in Time magazine's world's 100 most influential people lists.

Carter Page is an American investment banker and foreign policy analyst. He played an important role during the 2016 presidential election campaign when he served as a foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump. A petroleum industry consultant, Carter Page is credited with founding Global Energy Capital, which specializes in the Central Asian and Russian oil and gas business.

Henry Paulson is an American financier, banker, and political figure. He is best known for his service as the US Secretary of the Treasury from 10 July 2006 to 20 January 2009. A respected banker, Henry Paulson was the CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs prior to his role in the US Department of the Treasury.

J. P. Morgan Jr. was an American finance executive, banker, and philanthropist. He became the head of the investment banking institution, J.P. Morgan & Co., after his father J. P. Morgan's demise in 1913. J. P. Morgan Jr. was also an important philanthropist, who donated his London residence to the U.S. government in 1920.

Mikhail Prokhorov is a Russian billionaire, former owner of the American professional basketball team Brooklyn Nets, and politician. One of Russia's most prominent industrialists, Prokhorov is credited with helping Norilsk Nickel become the largest producer of palladium and nickel in the world. 

Marvin Bush is known as the son of former US president George H.W. Bush and the brother of another former president, George W. Bush. He has also been a businessman in his own right, heading SECURACOM and HCC Insurance Holdings, and appeared in the documentary Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.

A reputed investment banker, Lloyd Blankfein, who began his career as a tax lawyer, later served as the chairman and CEO of the American multinational company Goldman Sachs. However, he was also criticized for drawing a huge salary and for making controversial comments such as he was “doing God’s work.”

German banker Hjalmar Schacht was appreciated for his role in saving the Weimar Republic from inflation and later served as the Reichsminister of Economics under Adolf Hitler. Following as assassination attempt on Hitler, her was imprisoned, but was later freed and then set up his own bank in Düsseldorf.

Gary Cohn is an American business leader best known for his service as the Director of the National Economic Council from 2017 to 2018. Prior to his service in the White House, Cohn was the COO and president of Goldman Sachs. Gary Cohn is also a well-known philanthropist and has donated money to various organizations.

Investment banker Steven Mnuchin, who has served as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Donald Trump, has earlier been associated with Goldman Sachs, Sears Holdings, and Kmart. He later purchased IndyMac, renamed it OneWest Bank, and sold it to CIT Group. Mnuchin was also part of Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Born into the famous Rothschild banking family, French financier David René de Rothschild heads Rothschild & Co. as its Supervisory Board Chairman. He has previously been the chairman of Rothschild & Co Gestion and of the iconic diamond mining and retail company De Beers.

The grandson of J.P. Morgan founder John Pierpont Morgan, Sr., Henry Sturgis Morgan co-founded the multinational investment company Morgan Stanley. A Harvard alumnus, he also headed the Morgan Library & Museum as its president and chairman. A sailing enthusiast, too, he was part of the New York Yacht Club.

Harry Markopolos is an American financial fraud and forensic accounting investigator. A former securities industry executive, Markopolos is best known for his investigation that exposed Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme much before the latter's arrest in 2008. Harry Markopolos later penned No One Would Listen as he was initially ignored by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jorge Paulo Lemann is a Brazilian billionaire businessman and investment banker. Lemann is credited with co-founding 3G Capital, a Brazilian investment firm, which owns brands like Anheuser-Busch, Burger King, and Heinz. In 2019, Jorge Paulo Lemann was named the world's 37th richest person by Forbes magazine, thanks to his net worth of 24.6 billion US dollars.

Carl C. Icahn is an American businessman. He is credited with founding a diversified conglomerate holding company called Icahn Enterprises, which is based in New York City. He also serves as the chairman of the popular auto parts manufacturer and developer, Federal-Mogul. Also known for his charity work, Icahn joined the Giving Pledge list in 2010.

Ronald Perelman is an American banker, investor, and businessman. He is the current chairman, CEO, and owner of the diversified holding company, MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated. He also holds significant shares in companies like Revlon, Deluxe Entertainment, RetailMeNot, and SIGA Technologies. Ronald Perelman is also known for his philanthropic efforts and has donated millions of dollars to various causes.

One of the most well-known white-collar criminals ever, Marc Rich, an NYU dropout, was a self-made business magnate and commodities trader who established Glencore but was later charged with fraud and tax evasion, among other crimes. He also donated generously for leukemia research and Jewish causes.

American politician Phil Murphy was the US ambassador to Germany under former president Barack Obama and now serves as the governor of New Jersey. He previously had a career as a financier and has served Goldman Sachs for over 2 decades, working in places such as Germany and Hong Kong.

South African diamond magnate Nicky Oppenheimer is the heir to the De Beers fortune and Africa’s third-richest man. He also helms a chartered flight company and owns over 700 sq. km. conservation land in Africa. He also launched the Brenthurst Foundation with his son, to encourage sustainable development in African nations.

The CEO and co-founder of the healthcare services provider Athenahealth, businessman Jonathan Bush has also been at the center of domestic violence accusations made by his first wife. He has penned the bestseller Where Does It Hurt? He is also a cousin of former US president George W. Bush.

British economist Mervyn King, Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal, serves as School Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and as Chairman of the Philharmonia. He taught at the University of Birmingham, Harvard and MIT, and served the Bank of England as a non-executive director, chief economist, deputy governor and lastly as Governor.  

Best remembered for creating a new writing system that allows Mandarin to be written in Roman alphabets, Chinese economist Zhou Youguang started working on the project in 1955, reaching his goal after three years of labor. Known as Father of Pinyin, he has also authored forty books, most notable among them being The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts.

William M. Daley is an American politician, lawyer, and former banker. He is best known for his service as the White House Chief of Staff from 2011 to 2012 when Barack Obama was the President. William M. Daley also served as the US Secretary of Commerce from 1997 to 2000.

The CEO of Lazard, Peter R. Orszag has previously also been associated with Citigroup and has headed the OMB. A Princeton alumnus and a PhD from the London School of Economics, he has also been associated with organizations such as the National Academy of Medicine and been a lecturer of macroeconomics.

Edmond Safra was a Lebanese Brazilian banker. His father was a prominent banker, and he began his career working at his father’s bank. He was hardworking, ambitious, and street-smart and started earning millions while still in his teens. He was also a major philanthropist. He died in an arson that attracted wide media interest.  

Guyanese-British businesswoman and activist Gina Miller is the co-founder of the management firm SCM Direct. A former Labour Party member, she campaigned for transparency with regard to Brexit. She won a case challenging the UK government's authority to invoke Article 50 without an approval from the Parliament.

Joseph Safra was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian banker and businessman. A billionaire, he ran the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group, and was the chairman of all Safra companies. At the time of his death in 2020, he was the richest person in Brazil. He was married to a Greek-born woman named Vicky and had four children. 

Stanley Fischer is an Israeli American economist. He was previously the chief economist at the World Bank and the vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve. In 2014, he was nominated by US President Barack Obama to be the vice-chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue as well.  

Charles Keating was an American lawyer, sportsman, real estate developer, financier, banker, and conservative activist. Also a convicted felon, Keating is best remembered for his involvement in the infamous savings and loan scandal of the 1980s. He was imprisoned for four-and-a-half years after he was convicted of many counts of racketeering, fraud, and conspiracy.

Frank McKenna is a Canadian businessman who is currently serving as the Toronto-Dominion Bank's Deputy Chairman. A former politician, McKenna served as the premier of New Brunswick between 1987 and 1997. An influential and authoritative leader, McKenna was expected to lead the federal Liberal Party in 2008 after the resignation of Stéphane Dion. However, he didn't contest for the position.