Jide Zeitlin

Jide J. Zeitlin is a businessman and former Goldman Sachs investment banker and partner who was nominated by the Obama White House to represent the U.S. on financial reform at the United Nations.

Background
"The son of a Nigerian domestic worker, Zeitlin was adopted by an American family at age 5, raised in Asia and educated in the United States, where he excelled in academics."

The White House describes Zeitlin's background as "a private investor [who] formerly served as an executive at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was elected a partner in 1996. He retired in 2005, having held a number of senior management positions in that firm's investment banking division as well as served in its executive office. Since 2005, Mr. Zeitlin has founded a company that builds and owns telecommunications infrastructure in India, and he has invested in private biotechnology companies globally. An active member of several educational and cultural organizations, Mr. Zeitlin serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Amherst College and is a member of the boards of Teach For America, Milton Academy, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Montefiore Medical Center, Playwrights Horizons and Common Ground Community. He is also a member of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors and is a director of two publicly-listed corporations: Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Coach, Inc. He earned an A.B. in Economics and English magna cum laude from Amherst College and an M.B.A. from Harvard University."

Zeide was nominated on September 24, 2009, to serve as Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador. He was tasked with being the representative for management and financial reform matters.

Goldman Sachs
Zeitlin "served as a senior investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was elected a partner in 1996, and is now a private investor. His career at Goldman Sachs included a number of senior management positions in the firm's investment banking division, where he focused on the industrial, consumer and healthcare industries, as well as service in the firm's executive office."

American Tower Corp. lawsuit
"In 2006, Zeitlin was sued over allegations that he defamed a rival firm, American Tower Corp., and impersonated its chief executive, James D. Taiclet Jr., in cyberspace, according to a complaint in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. American Tower voluntarily withdrew its suit in early 2008 without any financial settlement or public admission of fault by Zeitlin. . . . The complaint alleged that Zeitlin provided a magazine reporter with negative information about American Tower and then forwarded the article to two of the company's major institutional investors, Thomas D. Stern of Chieftain Capital Management and Nick Advani of Goldman Sachs. It said Zeitlin used an Internet tool that allowed him to falsely identify Taiclet as the e-mail sender. . . . U.S. officials said Zeitlin acknowledged having sent the e-mail as a prank that went wrong."

Independent Mobile Infrastructure
"A New Delhi court [in October 2009] ordered the liquidation of Zeitlin's wireless firm, Independent Mobile Infrastructure Ltd., which stands accused of failing to pay about $2.4 million in supplies, services and interest to a client. The client, Unitech Power Transmission, charged that Zeitlin's company reneged on an agreement to pay for 34 wireless towers as part of a larger deal to construct a network of 137 towers throughout India. The issue is still being litigated, with Zeitlin's firm contesting the liquidation and saying it is financially strong; a hearing is scheduled for March."

Affiliations

 * Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., director
 * Amherst College, Chairman, Board of Trustees
 * Coach, Inc., director
 * Common Ground Community, board member
 * Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, board member
 * Goldman Sachs, investment banker, partner
 * Harvard Business School, member of Board of Dean's Advisors
 * Milton Academy, board member
 * Montefiore Medical Center, board member
 * Playwrights Horizons, board member
 * Teach for America, board member

Related Sourcewatch

 * Goldman Sachs
 * Obama transition team

External Resources

 * Profile on LittleSis.org
 * Relationship maps on Muckety

External Articles

 * Colum Lynch, "Pick for U.N. job faced legal and business woes," Washington Post, November 4, 2009.