Henry "Hank" Merritt Paulson Jr. (born March 28, 1946) is an American investment banker and financier who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009.

Prior to his role in the Department of the Treasury, Paulson was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of major investment bank Goldman Sachs.

He is now the chairman of the Paulson Institute, which he founded in 2011 to promote sustainable economic growth and a cleaner environment around the world, with an initial focus on the United States and China.

Paulson joined Goldman Sachs in 1974, working in the firm's Chicago office under James P. Gorter, covering large industrial companies in the Midwest.

In July 2008, The Daily Telegraph reported "Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has intimate relations with the Chinese elite, dating from his days at Goldman Sachs when he visited the country more than 70 times.

"[17] Before becoming Treasury Secretary, he was required to liquidate all of his stock holdings in Goldman Sachs, valued at over $600 million in 2006, in order to comply with conflict-of-interest regulations.

[22] Paulson conceded that chances were slim for agreeing on a method to reform Social Security financing, but said he would keep trying to find bipartisan support for it.

[27] In August 2007, Secretary Paulson explained that U.S. subprime mortgage fallout remained largely contained due to the strongest global economy in decades.

[28] On March 26, 2008, Secretary Paulson said in remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, As we work our way through this turbulence, our highest priority is limiting its impact on the real economy.

We must maintain stable, orderly and liquid financial markets and our banks must continue to play their vital role of supporting the economy by making credit available to consumers and businesses.

[29]In May 2008, The Wall Street Journal wrote that Paulson said U.S. financial markets are emerging from the credit crunch that many economists believe has pushed the country to the brink of recession.

"[31] On August 10, 2008, Secretary Paulson told NBC's Meet the Press that he had no plans to inject any capital into Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

[33] On November 18, in testimony before the United States House Committee on Financial Services, Secretary Paulson told lawmakers, There is no playbook for responding to turmoil we have never faced.

We should and can have a structure that is designed for the world we live in, one that is more flexible, one that can better adapt to change, one that will allow us to more effectively deal with inevitable market disruptions and one that will better protect investors and consumers.

[36]The support given by the Federal Reserve Board, under Ben Bernanke, and the U.S. Treasury with Paulson at the helm, in the acquisition of Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan and the $200 billion facility made available to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac attracted a great deal of criticism in congress by both Republicans and Democrats.

[37] Paulson and Geithner made every effort to enable Barclays to acquire Lehman Brothers, including convincing other large Wall Street firms to commit their own funds to support the deal.

After the Dow Jones dropped 30% and turmoil ensued in the global markets, Paulson pushed through legislation authorizing the Treasury to use $700 billion to stabilize the financial system.

As Treasury Secretary, he also was a member of the newly established Financial Stability Oversight Board that oversaw the Troubled Assets Relief Program.

[46] Creating the collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) forming the basis of the current crisis was an active part of Goldman Sach's business during Paulson's tenure as CEO.

[49] On October 6, 2014, Paulson testified in Starr v. United States, a lawsuit alleging that the government cheated American International Group shareholders of $40 billion by demanding a 79.9% stake in the company.

"[53] In September 2015, Paulson was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws and environmental policy by Washington College President and former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair.

[56] In his op-ed to The Washington Post Paulson wrote, "The GOP, in putting Trump at the top of the ticket, is endorsing a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism.

[13] In that capacity, Paulson worked with former President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin to preserve the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan.

[citation needed] Paulson co-chaired a group called Risky Business that raised awareness of the projected economic impact of climate change.

[70][71] In the 2010 documentary film Inside Job, Paulson is cited as one of the persons responsible for the economic meltdown of 2008 and named in Time as one of the "25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis".

In September 2013, Bloomberg Businessweek released the documentary film Hank: Five Years From the Brink, directed by Oscar-nominated Joe Berlinger and distributed by Netflix.