Some business CEOs have put the college degree on blast, questioning if higher education is really setting students up for success in the workforce. But the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, is pushing back against that narrative.
Blankfein has witnessed the power of a strong college education firsthand. The billionaire finance leader was born into public housing in Brooklyn, sharing a bedroom in his small New York City apartment with his grandmother or sister until he went off to college. At the time, his high school was on the brink of shutting down, Blankfein told CBS—but the then-teenager battened down the hatches, studied hard, became class valedictorian, and got into Harvard University at just 16 years old.
It was the launchpad to his illustrious career in finance, including a 12-year reign at Goldman Sachs.
Fast forward five decades, and Blankfein still believes schooling is the great wealth equalizer, even as AI threatens to swipe white-collar roles at a dizzying pace.
“I think education is the real accelerator for most people into the middle and upper classes,” Blankfein told CBS.
