Sidney Weinberg

Sidney James Weinberg (October 12, 1891 – July 23, 1969) was a long-time leader of the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, nicknamed “Mr. Wall Street” by The New York Times and "director's director" by Fortune magazine. In a rags-to-riches story, he rose from a janitor's assistant, making $3/week, to CEO.

Early life Weinberg's background contrasted sharply with that of the traditional Ivy League Wall Streeter. Weinberg was one of eleven children of a Jewish immigrant wholesale liquor dealer. His family were active members of Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes in Brooklyn, joining when the synagogue was on Boerum Place, and remaining with it when it moved to Cobble Hill. Sidney's mother, Sophie, was sisterhood president from 1912 to 1913, his father, Pincus, served as president from 1919 to 1921, and the children all attended the Sunday school and Talmud Torah. Sidney married Helen W. Livingston there in 1920. Sidney's name does not appear in any synagogue documents after World War I, indicating less active membership in his adult life.

Weinberg dropped out of junior high school at P.S. 13, but got a letter of recommendation from one of his teachers to enter the job market. Sidney joined the workforce at the age of ten "selling newspapers at the Manhattan-Brooklyn ferry terminal, shucking oysters, and carrying feathers for a milliner." At one point, Sidney found jobs as a runner at three different brokerage houses. The conflicts of interest cost him all three positions. Goldman Sachs bought Weinberg a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1925.

Public service President John F. Kennedy meets with members of the Business Council (formerly the Business Advisory Council) in Cross Hall, White House, Washington, D.C., in 1961. (left to right) Leonard F. McCollum; Roger Blough; President Kennedy; Sidney J. Weinberg. Weinberg befriended Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 while working as a member of the Democratic Party's National Campaign Finance Committee, and successfully raised more funds than any other member.

When the United States entered World War II in 1941, Weinberg played an active role in engaging America's private sector to overcome the nation's considerable financial, industrial, and organizational challenges. Weinberg repeatedly proclaimed, “government service is the highest form of citizenship,” and, “I’ll never take a job in government in peacetime, but I’ll take any job in time of war.” Following Weinberg's success recruiting corporate talent for the Business Advisory and Planning Council, President Roosevelt entrusted Weinberg with an even more important mandate: forming the Industry Advisory Committee under the War Production Board’s Chairman, Donald M. Nelson. both of whom were partners of Goldman Sachs. His grandson John S. Weinberg was the company's vice chairman and another grandson Peter Weinberg was the company's head of European business before co-founding the boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners.