Jeffrey Dunston Zients (/ˈzaɪənts/; born November 12, 1966) is an American business executive and former government official who served as the 31st White House chief of staff from February 2023 to January 2025 under U.S. president Joe Biden. Earlier in the Biden administration, he served as counselor to the president and White House coronavirus response coordinator from January 2021 to April 2022.[1][2][3]
During the presidency of Barack Obama, Zients served as director of the National Economic Council from February 2014 to January 2017, served as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget in 2010 and from 2012 to 2013, and led the emergency effort to fix healthcare.gov after the troubled launch of that critical component of the Affordable Care Act.
Before entering government, Zients was an executive at firms including the Advisory Board Company and CEB. Zients joined the Biden administration after taking leave from his position as chief executive officer of Cranemere, an investment firm. He was a member of Facebook's board of directors from 2018 to 2020.[4]
Early life and education
Zients was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Kensington, Maryland.[5] His family is Jewish.[6][7][8] Zients graduated from the St. Albans School in 1984 and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Duke University,[9] graduating summa cum laude in 1988.[10]
After college, Zients worked in management consulting for Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) and Bain & Company. As a consultant, Zients reportedly enjoyed the “culture, teamwork … and analytical rigor".[11] After management consulting, he was appointed the chief operating officer of DGB Enterprises, a holding company for the Advisory Board Company, Corporate Executive Board, and Atlantic Media Company.[12]
At age 35, Zients was named to Fortune Magazine's "40 under 40", with an estimated wealth of $149 million.[13]
Advisory board and corporate executive board
Zients was the chief operating officer (1996–1998), chief executive officer (1998–2000), and chairman (2001–2004) of the Advisory Board Company and former chairman (2000–2001) of the Corporate Executive Board.[14] Zients and David G. Bradley took each of the companies public through initial public offerings that made both men multimillionaires.[8][15]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Zients