Blankfein Urges Goldman Sachs to Hire Top Talent Beyond Ivies

Lloyd Blankfein, former Goldman Sachs CEO, argued that top students from non-elite schools such as the University of Minnesota can match or exceed their Ivy League peers and urged broader hiring pools at Goldman Sachs and beyond, a clip of the remarks goes viral amid talent debates. The comments circulated on social platforms as firms and recruiters reexamine campus pipelines.

Blankfein also framed the conversation about recruiting in the context of public service and firm alumni in government. He wrote, "We will continue to encourage our people to contribute to government service if they are fortunate enough to be asked," and noted a pattern of Goldman alumni entering public roles. At least five Goldman Sachs CEOs have gone into government service; Hank Paulson in 2006 left his role as chief executive to become Treasury Secretary.

Blankfein called out Gary Cohn, his former no. 2 executive, as part of that pattern, noting that Cohn "left in December to join President Trump's administration." Cohn is listed alongside other former Goldman employees who joined that administration: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; chief strategist Steve Bannon; James Donovan, who will be Mnuchin's deputy; and the former president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Dina Powell, who has been named deputy national security adviser.

Blankfein expanded on the firm’s recruiting philosophy in a longer written comment. He wrote: "Gary was not the first person from Goldman Sachs to join the government, and we hope and expect that he will not be the last. Five of my most recent predecessors went into government service, and that has not been by happenstance. One ethic that has long pervaded Goldman Sachs is a commitment to public service if one is given the opportunity to serve. And that has been true over time and in many of the geographies in which we operate.

We recruit people who are oriented to the larger world, and their jobs require them to be both outwardly and inwardly facing. In the process, they develop the skills to make a contribution in large, complex organizations and the expertise to help drive economic progress and job creation. "

The remarks also appeared in social posts; one Instagram caption reproduced part of Blankfein’s point about non-Ivy hiring, writing exactly: "Lloyd Blankfein, former Goldman Sachs CEO on hiring students from non Ivy league and prestigious schools. "The average will be higher at these" — a fragment that indicates the comments reached public feeds beyond traditional press channels.

Blankfein’s intervention puts a high-profile ex-CEO squarely into the internal debate about campus sourcing and recruiting strategy at Goldman Sachs, juxtaposing a named example - the University of Minnesota - against the Ivy League and linking hiring choices to the firm’s long-stated orientation toward public service and government participation.