Robert Steven Kaplan

Robert Steven Kaplan (born 1957) is an American economist and banker who currently serves as the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs. Before that he served as the chief executive officer and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2015 until 2021. He serves as chairman of Project ALS, and is a board member of Harvard Medical School.

He is the author of three books on business leadership: What You Really Need To Lead, What You're Really Meant To Do, and What To Ask The Person In The Mirror. He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the George W. Bush Institute, an Advisory Board Member of the Baker Institute, as well as a board member of Harvard Medical School, St. Mark's School of Texas and the Co-Founding Board Chair Emeritus of the TEAK Fellowship.

Career Kaplan was vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He became a partner in 1990. He served as head of the Corporate Finance Department, head of Asia Pacific Investment Banking and head of the high-yield department in Investment Banking. He was a member of the management committee and was co-chairman of the partnership committee.

Throughout his 23-year tenure at Goldman Sachs, Kaplan served in various leadership roles including head of Corporate Finance, head of Asia-Pacific Investment Banking, head of the high-yield department in Investment Banking, member of the Management Committee and co-chairman of the Partnership Committee. In this role he managed the 1,200 employees of the Dallas Fed office. Kaplan's trading activities received widespread criticism for undermining confidence in the Federal Reserve. All transactions occurred outside of the Federal Reserve's financial blackout period and were approved by the bank's compliance department. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called on all Federal Reserve presidents to have a ban on the trading and ownership of individual stocks by regional senior officials. Due to the ethics concerns, Kaplan said he would sell his individual stocks.

On September 27, 2021, Kaplan announced he would be retiring early from his position as the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, citing distractions over his stock market trades. His retirement took effect on October 8, 2021.

On January 22, 2024, The Federal Reserve Inspector General cleared Kaplan in their probe of 2020 trades concluding that the trades were allowed under the Fed's rules and didn't violate central bank policies or the law.

In May 2024 it was announced that Kaplan would return to work at Goldman Sachs as a Vice Chairman, a role in which he would provide advice to Wall Street clients across global banking and markets, and asset and wealth management.

Kaplan was also co-founder and chairman of Indaba Capital Management, LP, was chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee at Google, a trustee at the Ford Foundation and has served on the boards of Harvard Management Company, Bed Bath & Beyond, State Street Corporation and Heidrick & Struggles International.