Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is rejoining Goldman Sachs, the global investment bank where he began his professional career more than two decades ago.
The move marks a significant homecoming for Rishi Sunak, bringing him back to the financial world where his career first took off at the very same firm.
Goldman Sachs announced his appointment on Tuesday, which comes almost a year after his resignation as as Conservative party leader after Labour’s victory in 2024 general elections.
“I am excited to welcome Rishi back to Goldman Sachs in his new capacity as a senior adviser,” the Financial Times quoted bank’s chief executive David Solomon as saying.
Solomon further mentioned that Rishi Sunak’s role will be around geopolitical and economic issues.
“He will also spend time with our people around the world, contributing to our culture of ongoing learning and development,” Solomon added.
From Goldman Sachs to Downing Street and back
Rishi Sunak’s journey has woven together the spheres of finance and politics in a way that sets him apart.
After graduating from Oxford in 2001 with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, he kicked off his career at Goldman Sachs as a junior analyst, a position he landed after previously interning at the firm.
He remained at Goldman Sachs until 2004 before moving into the hedge fund world, first joining The Children’s Investment Fund Management and later co-founding Theleme Partners in California.
Sunak made his entry into politics in 2015 when he was elected as the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire. His rise within the Conservative Party was rapid.
By 2020, he had become Chancellor of the Exchequer, taking on a central role in shaping the UK’s economic response to the COVID-19 crisis.
In 2022, he broke new ground as the country’s first British-Indian Prime Minister, stepping into leadership at a time defined by global instability and economic pressure.
But his tenure came to an end after the Conservative Party suffered a historic loss in the July 2024 general election, its worst result in a hundred years shrinking from 365 seats to just 121.
Sunak resigned as party leader soon after the election but chose to remain in Parliament, continuing to represent his Richmond constituency.
In the months that followed, he shifted his focus to academia, taking up fellowships at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.
His work has centered on economic policy, global security, and fostering closer ties between the UK and its international partners.
Strategic appointment
Rishi Sunak rejoining Goldman Sachs is being hailed as a strategic move, as it facilitate the investment bank to better advise its clients on an increasingly complex world.
Having served both as a Chancellor and Prime Minister, Sunak presents a rare mix of political knowledge and financial literacy, which the company reckons will be attractive to clients facing uncertainty in the economy and the changing geopolitical environment.
Rishi Sunak has decided to share the profits on his appointment to the role with Richmond Project, the charity founded by him and his wife, Akshata Murty, in order to provide better numeracy teaching experience in the UK.
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