Cohn Says Starting `Digitized' Bank One Option for Next Job
Gary Cohn Says `Digitized' Bank Is One Option for Future Role
(Bloomberg) -- Gary Cohn, the former director of the White House Economic Council, said he’s still weighing options for his next role but one possibility is a digital bank.
“I do have an idea for a company,” Cohn, who was Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s president before joining the Trump administration, said Tuesday in an interview on CNBC. “It would be an interesting concept playing on the knowledge I know from the banking world, in running a regulated bank, but in a digitized world.”
Cohn, 57, announced his departure from the White House in March after Trump moved forward with steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports -- a plan Cohn had vociferously opposed. He was replaced by Larry Kudlow, an economist and former CNBC contributor. Cohn reiterated Tuesday that tariffs are detrimental to economic growth.
In an interview with Bloomberg News at the BTIG Commissions for Charity Day, Cohn said he doesn’t want to serve on the board of a large corporation. “A lot of people have called me about boards and it’s not exciting to me,” he said. “Getting involved with young entrepreneurs is exciting to me.”
While he said he’s in no rush to start his next job, “if the right opportunity, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, came across tomorrow, I’d be at work on Monday morning,” he said. If it doesn’t, “I’m going to enjoy my summer.”
Global Cryptocurrency
Cohn told CNBC he’s not a “big believer” in Bitcoin, but does think a global cryptocurrency using blockchain technology is likely at some point.
That new cryptocurrency “will be more easily understood: how it’s created, how it moves and how people can use it,” Cohn said.
Cohn said in the CNBC interview that he’s reviewing many options for his next act, including money management or philanthropic work.
“I miss working with young entrepreneurs,” Cohn said. “Getting involved with companies earlier is something I could see myself doing. I wouldn’t rule out getting involved with a mature company as well.”
--With assistance from Amanda Gordon
To contact the reporter on this story: William Mathis in New York at wmathis2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Steve Dickson, Steven Crabill
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