Jeff Zients facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jeff Zients
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Official portrait, 2023
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| 31st White House Chief of Staff | |
| In office February 8, 2023 – January 20, 2025 |
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Ron Klain |
| Succeeded by | Susie Wiles |
| Counselor to the President | |
| In office January 20, 2021 – April 5, 2022 Serving with Steve Ricchetti
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Hope Hicks Derek Lyons |
| White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator | |
| In office January 20, 2021 – April 5, 2022 |
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Deputy | Natalie Quillian |
| Preceded by | Deborah Birx |
| Succeeded by | Ashish Jha |
| 10th Director of the National Economic Council | |
| In office March 5, 2014 – January 20, 2017 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Gene Sperling |
| Succeeded by | Gary Cohn |
| Director of the Office of Management and Budget | |
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Acting
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| In office January 27, 2012 – April 24, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Heather Higginbottom |
| Preceded by | Jack Lew |
| Succeeded by | Sylvia Mathews Burwell |
| In office July 30, 2010 – November 18, 2010 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Jeffrey Liebman |
| Preceded by | Peter R. Orszag |
| Succeeded by | Jack Lew |
| 1st Chief Performance Officer of the United States | |
| In office June 19, 2009 – October 16, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Beth Cobert |
| Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget for Management | |
| In office June 19, 2009 – October 16, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Clay Johnson III |
| Succeeded by | Beth Cobert |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jeffrey Dunston Zients
November 12, 1966 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Mary Menell |
| Education | Duke University (BA) |
Jeffrey Dunston Zients (born November 12, 1966) is an American business leader and former government official. He served as the 31st White House Chief of Staff for U.S. President Joe Biden from February 2023 to January 2025.
Before that, in the Biden administration, he was a top advisor called Counselor to the President. He also led the White House COVID-19 Response Team from January 2021 to April 2022.
During Barack Obama's time as president, Zients was the director of the National Economic Council. He also worked as the acting director for the Office of Management and Budget at different times. He famously led the team that fixed the healthcare.gov website after it had problems when it first launched.
Before working in government, Zients was an executive at several companies. He was also on the board of directors for Facebook from 2018 to 2020.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Jeffrey Zients was born in Washington, D.C. He grew up in Kensington, Maryland. He graduated from St. Albans School in 1984.
He then went to Duke University. In 1988, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science. He graduated with high honors.
Business Career Before Government
After college, Zients worked as a management consultant. He helped companies improve their operations. He enjoyed the teamwork and problem-solving involved in this work.
Later, he became the chief operating officer of DGB Enterprises. This company owned several businesses, including the Advisory Board Company.
Leading Companies
Zients held important roles at the Advisory Board Company. He was the chief operating officer from 1996 to 1998. He then became the chief executive officer from 1998 to 2000. He was also chairman from 2001 to 2004.
He also served as chairman of the Corporate Executive Board from 2000 to 2001. Zients helped both these companies become public. This means their shares could be bought and sold on the stock market. These efforts made him a very wealthy person.
Investment Work
Zients started his own investment firm called Portfolio Logic LLC. This company focused mainly on healthcare and business services. He also served on the board of directors for several other companies. These included XM Satellite Radio and Sirius XM Radio.
Baseball Team Bid
In 2005, Zients joined a group that wanted to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team. The group included well-known people like Colin Powell. Their plan was for Zients to eventually manage the team. However, their group was not successful in buying the team.
Working in the Obama Administration
In 2009, President Barack Obama asked Zients to join his team. He was given a new role: United States chief performance officer. He also became the deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This was Zients's first time working in the government.
President Obama said Zients's job was to help the U.S. government work better. This included finding ways to save money and improve how things were done. The Senate approved his nomination in June 2009. As deputy director, Zients started and led the President's Management Council.
Zients also served as the acting director of the OMB twice. First, from July 2010 to November 2010. Then again, from January 2012 to April 2013.
Fixing Healthcare.gov
After the healthcare.gov website launched with many problems in October 2013, President Obama asked Zients to fix it. Zients led a special team of tech experts to get the website working correctly.
National Economic Council
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From 2014 to 2017, Zients was a key advisor to the president on economic policy. He was the director of the National Economic Council (NEC). He also led the President's Management Advisory Board.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper called Zients "a kind of ambassador to the business community." Many business groups praised him for listening to their concerns.
At the NEC, Zients worked on a rule for financial advisors. This rule required them to act in their clients' best interest. This rule was not popular with some Wall Street leaders. It was later overturned by a court in 2018.
In 2015, Zients described the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a big tax cut for American businesses. This was a trade agreement.
Back to Private Business
Zients joined the board of directors for Facebook in 2018. He became the chairman of the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee. This committee helps make sure the company's finances are handled correctly.
Facebook stated that Zients chose not to seek re-election to the board in 2020. He wanted to spend more time on his other business interests. He was paid for his work on Facebook's audit committee. By December 2020, Zients had sold all his Facebook stock.
Cranemere
Zients was the CEO of Cranemere, an investment firm. He earned a good salary and bonus in this role. As of December 2020, Zients was taking a break from his CEO position at Cranemere.
He was also an investor in a bagel deli startup in Washington, D.C., called Call Your Mother.
Working in the Biden Administration
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In the summer of 2020, Zients became more involved in Joe Biden's presidential campaign. He was a co-chair of the team that helped prepare for Biden to take office. He was seen as an important leader in this transition team.
On December 7, 2020, it was announced that Zients would be the coordinator for the COVID-19 response. He would also be a counselor to the president. When President Biden took office in January 2021, there was no clear plan for distributing COVID-19 vaccines. This became a top priority for Zients.
In July 2021, some people criticized Zients for delaying the easing of travel rules between the U.S. and Europe.
In March 2022, Zients announced he would leave the Biden administration in April. Ashish Jha took over his role as Coronavirus Response Coordinator.
On January 22, 2023, news reports said that Zients would replace Ron Klain as the White House Chief of Staff. This is a very important role in the White House. On February 8, 2023, Zients officially became the 31st White House chief of staff.
