Timothy Geithner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Timothy Geithner
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Official portrait, 2009
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| 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury | |
| In office January 26, 2009 – January 25, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Neal S. Wolin |
| Preceded by | Henry Paulson |
| Succeeded by | Jack Lew |
| 9th President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York | |
| In office November 17, 2003 – January 26, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | William Joseph McDonough |
| Succeeded by | William C. Dudley |
| United States Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs | |
| In office July 3, 1998 – January 20, 2001 |
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| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | David A. Lipton |
| Succeeded by | John B. Taylor |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Timothy Franz Geithner
August 18, 1961 New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse |
Carole Sonnenfeld
(m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Dartmouth College (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MA) |
| Signature |  |
Timothy Franz Geithner (born August 18, 1961) is an American who used to work as a central banker. He was the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. Before that, he was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2009. He also worked in the government during the Clinton administration. Since 2014, he has been the president and chairman of Warburg Pincus, a company that invests in other businesses.
As the head of the New York Fed and later as Treasury Secretary, Geithner played a big part in the government's efforts to fix the financial crisis of 2007–08 and the Great Recession. These were times when the economy was in a lot of trouble. At the New York Fed, he helped deal with problems involving big companies like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and American International Group (AIG). As Treasury Secretary, he helped manage a large amount of money ($350 billion) from a program called the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). This program was created to help the economy during the crisis. Geithner also worked on changing rules for the nation's financial system and tried to help the housing and car industries recover.
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Early Life and School
Timothy Geithner was born in Manhattan, New York. His father worked for the Ford Foundation, helping with programs in Asia and Africa. His mother came from a family in New England.
Geithner spent most of his childhood living in other countries. He lived in places like Zimbabwe, Zambia, India, and Thailand. He finished high school at the International School Bangkok. He also studied Chinese in China in the early 1980s.
Like his father, Geithner went to Dartmouth College. He graduated in 1983, studying government and Asian cultures. Later, he earned a master's degree in international economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1985. He also learned Japanese.
In 1985, Geithner married Carole Marie Sonnenfeld, who was his classmate at Dartmouth. She is a social worker and teaches at George Washington University. She also wrote a children's book.
First Jobs in Government
From 1985 to 1988, Geithner worked for a company in Washington, D.C. Then, he joined the U.S. Treasury Department. He worked in different roles there, focusing on international money matters. He helped manage financial problems in countries like Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand.
In 2001, Geithner left the Treasury Department. He then worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until 2003. The IMF is an organization that helps countries with their money problems.
Leading the New York Federal Reserve Bank
In 2003, Geithner became the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This is a very important job because the New York Fed helps manage the country's money system. He also became a leader in a group called the Group of Thirty, which advises on financial issues.
In 2005, Geithner was worried about how banks were trading certain financial products. These products later caused big problems in the 2007–2008 financial crisis. He said that banks should have enough money saved up for hard times.
As the head of the New York Fed, Geithner was a key person in the U.S. government's efforts to deal with the financial crisis.
Helping Banks During the Crisis
In 2008, Geithner helped arrange a rescue for a bank called Bear Stearns. It was close to going out of business. The government helped sell it to another bank, JPMorgan Chase. Geithner said that if Bear Stearns failed suddenly, it would cause big problems for the whole financial system.
Later in 2008, another big financial company, Lehman Brothers, was in trouble. Geithner met with other financial leaders to discuss what to do. The government decided not to save Lehman Brothers, and it went bankrupt. This was the biggest failure of an investment bank in many years.
Geithner was also very involved in helping the American International Group (AIG), a large insurance company. AIG was facing huge losses and needed a lot of money. Geithner and other officials decided that AIG was too big to fail. They worried that if AIG collapsed, it would hurt the entire economy. So, the government lent AIG $85 billion to keep it from going out of business.
After Lehman Brothers failed, some money market funds (which are like savings accounts for companies) also got into trouble. Geithner worked to stabilize the financial market. He suggested that two big investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, change how they operate to get more funding.
Secretary of the Treasury
Becoming Treasury Secretary
In 2008, when Barack Obama was elected president, he chose Timothy Geithner to be his Treasury Secretary. This is a very important job, as the Treasury Secretary manages the government's money and advises the president on economic issues.
During his confirmation process, it was found that Geithner had not paid some taxes from 2001 to 2004. He said it was a "careless" mistake and paid the money he owed. The U.S. Senate approved his appointment, and he became Treasury Secretary in January 2009.
Government Help for the Economy
As Treasury Secretary, Geithner was in charge of a large part of the $700 billion government bailout plan, called TARP. He suggested creating a new fund to buy "toxic assets" (bad loans and investments) from banks. This was meant to help the banks recover. He also wanted to give banks more money to lend. In return, banks had to cut down on big salaries and bonuses for their executives.
The government spent a lot of money through TARP and other programs to help the economy. However, most of this money was later paid back to the government by the companies that received help.
AIG Bonuses
There was a lot of public anger when AIG, which had received a lot of government help, paid out large bonuses to its employees. Geithner said he didn't know about these bonuses until March 2009. He then asked AIG to try and get the employees to return some of the money.
AIG Payments to Banks
Later, a government report criticized how AIG used some of the bailout money to pay back other banks. These banks received the full value for contracts that were actually worth much less at the time. Geithner defended these payments, saying they were necessary to prevent an even bigger financial collapse. He also said he was not involved in hiding details about these payments.
Helping Homeowners
Geithner also oversaw a program called "Making Home Affordable." This program was supposed to help homeowners avoid losing their homes to foreclosure. However, a report later said that the program did not help as many people as expected. Many banks rejected requests for help, and the program only assisted a small number of homeowners compared to what was planned.
Dealing with China
Geithner stated that the U.S. government believed China was keeping its money (the Renminbi) artificially low. This made Chinese goods cheaper and hurt American businesses. He said the U.S. would work hard to get China to change this practice.
In 2009, Geithner visited China and spoke at Peking University. When asked if Chinese investments in U.S. government debt were safe, he said they were "very safe," which made the audience laugh. He also co-led important meetings between the U.S. and China to discuss economic issues.
In 2011, Geithner criticized China for allowing the "stealing of intellectual property" from American companies. This means that Chinese companies were getting ideas and designs from U.S. companies without permission.
Tax Cuts and Debt Talks
In 2010, Geithner was against extending tax cuts for wealthy people. He argued that these tax cuts cost too much money and did not help the economy grow. He believed it was wrong to borrow money from future generations to give tax cuts to the richest people.
Geithner was also a main negotiator for President Obama during talks about the "fiscal cliff" and increasing the country's debt limit in 2012. The "fiscal cliff" was a situation where big tax increases and spending cuts would happen automatically, which could hurt the economy.
After Being Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner left the government in January 2013. He then joined the Council on Foreign Relations, a group that studies international issues. In March 2014, he became the president and managing director of Warburg Pincus, a company that invests in other businesses. In 2023, he became the chairman of the company.
In 2018, it was reported that a company owned by Warburg Pincus, Mariner Finance, was criticized for its lending practices. Some people said the company's business model seemed to make money from people who were struggling financially.
Geithner also teaches at the Yale School of Management. He is also a co-chair of the board for the International Rescue Committee, which helps people in need around the world. He wrote a book about his time as Treasury Secretary called Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises, which came out in 2014.
In 2016, he was one of eight former Treasury secretaries who asked the United Kingdom to stay a member of the European Union.
In Movies and TV
Timothy Geithner has been played by actors in movies and TV shows about the financial crisis. He was played by Billy Crudup in the HBO movie Too Big to Fail. He was also played by Alex Jennings in the BBC TV movie The Last Days of Lehman Brothers.
Images for kids
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Official portrait, 2009
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Timothy Geithner's signature
See also
In Spanish: Timothy Geithner para niños
