Neel Kashkari

Born and raised in Ohio and educated at the University of Illinois, Kashkari worked initially as an aerospace engineer. After attending business school at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he became an investment banker, covering the information technology security sector for Goldman Sachs.  When Henry Paulson, the former head of Goldman, was appointed Secretary of the Treasury in 2006, he brought Kashkari on as an aide. Kashkari was eventually named Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Economics and Development. At Treasury, he played a number of roles in the response to the financial crisis and the subprime mortgage crisis that preceded it, most notably administering TARP.

Kashkari left government and began working for Pimco in 2009, leading that company’s push into the equities market. In January 2013 he resigned from Pimco to explore a run for public office. One year later, he announced his candidacy for Governor of California. On June 3, 2014, he came in second in California’s nonpartisan blanket primary, placing him on the general election ballot in November against incumbent governor Jerry Brown.