Fall, after Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. became a bank holding company, I agreed to remain on the Board, pursuant to the waiver authority of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, to provide continuity during a time of financial market instability. Today, although I have been in compliance with the rules, my public service motivated continuation on the Reserve Bank Board is being mis-characterized as improper. The Federal Reserve System has important work to do and does not need this distraction.’ Friedman was criticized for seemingly benefiting from his role as Chair of the New York Fed branch due to the federal government's aid to Goldman Sachs in recent months. He had "remain[ed] on the board of Goldman even as he was supposedly regulating [Goldman]; in order to rectify the problem, he applied for, and got, a conflict of interest waiver from the government. Friedman was also supposed to divest himself of his Goldman stock after Goldman became a bankholding company, but thanks to the waiver, he was allowed to go out and buy 52,000 additional shares in his old bank, leaving him $3 million richer," as one report put it. Friedman's resignation announcement came within an hour of the government's release of the 2009 stress tests for 19 U.S. financial institutions. Public service Friedman is involved in several public service activities, including Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Columbia University, Chairman Emeritus of the Executive Committee of the Brookings Institution, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a benefactor of his alma mater Cornell University, particularly its wrestling program as the college's wrestling building is known as the Friedman Center. Personal life Stephen Friedman is married to Barbara Benioff, chairwoman of the board of governors of Hebrew Union College. The couple live on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and have three children: two daughters, Susan and Caroline, and a son, David Benioff. Benioff, who goes by his mother's maiden name, is a writer, screenwriter and adaptor of Game of Thrones. David is married to actress Amanda Peet. References External links |- |- |- |- 1937 births American chief operating officers American financial businesspeople American investment bankers American people of German-Jewish descent Chairmen of Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officers of Goldman Sachs Columbia Law School alumni Cornell University alumni Federal Reserve Bank people Living people Politicians from New York City United States presidential advisors