Life and Career
Sperling was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended the alternative Community High School. He received a B.A. in political science from the University of Minnesota, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and attended The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In the 1990s Gene Sperling worked for New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
During Bill Clinton's first term as President, from 1993–1996, Sperling served as deputy director of the National Economic Council while the Council was directed by Robert Rubin, who was promoted to Treasury Secretary. Sperling became National Economic Adviser to Clinton and director of the National Economic Council from 1996 to 2000.
As director of the NEC, Sperling, who had played a key role in the 1993 Deficit Reduction Act, was a key negotiator of the 1997 bipartisan Balanced Budget Act. Sperling was also a principal negotiator with then-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers of the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Gramm-Leach-Bliley repealed large portions of the depression-era Glass-Stegall Act allowing banks, securities firms and insurance companies to merge. President Barack Obama believes that the repeal of Glass–Steagall helped cause the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.
Also in 1999, together with United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, Sperling successfully negotiated and concluded the China-World Trade Organization agreement in Beijing, paving the way for China to enter the WTO in 2001.
Sperling was the chief economic advisor for Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign.
Sperling was also on the staff of the Council on Foreign Relations, where he founded and served as director of the Center for Universal Education—an organization focused on ensuring quality, universal education for the world’s poorest children.
According to Bloomberg News, Sperling earned $887,727 from Goldman Sachs in 2008 for advice on its charitable giving and $158,000 for speeches mostly to financial companies.
Sperling is the author of The Pro-Growth Progressive, a book arguing that liberals should seek to harness market forces in pursuing progressive goals, and co-author of What Works In Girls' Education?. He was also a consultant for the television series The West Wing.
From 2009 to 2011, Sperling served as a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, advising on fiscal, budget, tax, job creation and small business issues.
In January 2011, President Barack Obama appointed Sperling as the director of the National Economic Council.
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