Rishi Sunak, the former Conservative Prime Minister, has announced his new role as a senior advisor to Goldman Sachs, the prominent investment bank. This appointment marks a significant return to the financial sector for Sunak, who previously worked for the firm. In this capacity, he will be offering his expertise on economic and geopolitical trends to Goldman Sachs’ diverse clientele.
A key condition of this appointment is a strict one-year prohibition on Sunak lobbying the government on behalf of Goldman Sachs, designed to prevent any immediate leveraging of his former position. In a notable philanthropic move, Sunak has committed to donating his entire salary from this advisory role to the Richmond Project, a charity he founded to enhance numeracy skills.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) reviewed and approved the appointment, imposing standard conditions, including a two-year lobbying ban from when Sunak left ministerial office in July 2024. While Acoba identified a potential risk related to Sunak’s previous oversight of the “Edinburgh reforms,” which benefited banks, they emphasized his limited personal involvement in policy formulation.
Goldman Sachs CEO, David Solomon, expressed his pleasure at Sunak’s return to the firm. Since leaving Downing Street last year, Sunak has largely remained out of the political limelight, pursuing academic roles at Oxford and Stanford. His substantial personal wealth, estimated at £640 million with his wife, continues to be a subject of public discussion, particularly in light of the ongoing cost of living crisis.