Robert Steven Kaplan

{{Short description|American business executive}}

{{Distinguish | Robert S. Kaplan}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Robert Kaplan

| office = 13th President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

| term_start = September 8, 2015

| term_end = October 8, 2021

| predecessor = Richard W. Fisher

| successor = Meredith Black (Acting)

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1957|7}}

| birth_place = Prairie Village, Kansas, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = University of Kansas, Lawrence (BS)
Harvard University (MBA)

}}

Robert Steven Kaplan (born 1957) served as the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from 2015 until 2021 and is a long-time Goldman Sachs executive, where he currently serves as vice chairman.

Prior to joining the Dallas Fed, Kaplan was a faculty member and senior associate dean at the Harvard Business School.

Kaplan is an active venture philanthropist through his work as co-chairman of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.{{Cite web |title=Robert Steven Kaplan {{!}} DRK Foundation {{!}} Supporting passionate, high impact social enterprises |url=https://www.drkfoundation.org/team-member/robert-steven-kaplan/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |language=en-US}} He serves as chairman of Project ALS, and is a board member of Harvard Medical School.{{Cite web |date=2020-12-01 |title=Who We Are - Project ALS |url=https://projectals.org/who-we-are/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=Board of Fellows, 2017 |url=https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/board-fellows |publisher=Harvard Medical School |access-date=20 September 2021 |date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802230103/https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/board-fellows |archive-date=2017-08-02 }}

He is the author of three books on business leadership: What You Really Need To Lead, What You're Really Meant To Do, and What To Ask The Person In The Mirror. {{Cite web |title=Robert Steven Kaplan: books, biography, latest update |url=https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B005DZHIBG |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=Amazon.com |language=en-us}}

Career

Kaplan was vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He became a partner in 1990. He served as head of the Corporate Finance Department, head of Asia Pacific Investment Banking and head of the high-yield department in Investment Banking. He was a member of the management committee and was co-chairman of the partnership committee.{{Cite web |title=Robert Steven Kaplan {{!}} Federal Reserve History |url=https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/robert-steven-kaplan |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.federalreservehistory.org}}

Throughout his 23-year tenure at Goldman Sachs, Kaplan served in various leadership roles including head of Corporate Finance, head of Asia-Pacific Investment Banking, head of the high-yield department in Investment Banking, member of the Management Committee and co-chairman of the Partnership Committee.

In 2006, Kaplan joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School, as a Senior Associate Dean and the Martin Marshall Professor of Management Practice.

In August 2015, Kaplan was named to head the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and represented the Eleventh Federal Reserve District on the Federal Open Market Committee, effective September 2015.{{cite web | title=Dallas Fed Names Former Goldman Sachs Banker Robert Steven Kaplan President |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/dallas-fed-names-robert-steven-kaplan-president-1439830711 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=2015-08-17 | access-date=2015-08-17 |author=Derby, Michael S.}}{{subscription required}} In this role he managed the 1,200 employees of the Dallas Fed office.

In early September 2021, a financial disclosure form showed that Kaplan conducted million-dollar trades of individual stocks, including Apple, Amazon and Delta Airlines and owned 32 individual stocks with 27 having a value of over $1 million, including those of five fossil-fuel companies.{{Cite news|last=Derby|first=Michael S.|date=2021-09-07|title=Dallas Fed's Robert Kaplan Was Active Buyer and Seller of Stocks Last Year|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/dallas-feds-robert-kaplan-was-active-buyer-and-seller-of-stocks-last-year-11631044094|access-date=2022-01-11|issn=0099-9660}}{{subscription required}}{{Cite news|title=Fed Official Who Warned on Real Estate Traded REITs Actively|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-08/fed-official-who-warned-on-real-estate-was-active-reit-trader|access-date=January 10, 2022|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=8 September 2021 }} Kaplan's trading activities received widespread criticism for undermining confidence in the Federal Reserve.{{Cite news|last=Smialek|first=Jeanna|date=2021-09-27|title=Fed Officials Under Fire for 2020 Securities Trading Will Resign|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/business/fed-rosengren-kaplan.html|access-date=2022-01-11|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|last1=Marte|first1=Jonnelle|last2=Saphir|first2=Ann|last3=Schneider|first3=Howard|date=2021-09-27|title=Two Fed officials depart amid scrutiny over investment trades|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/boston-feds-rosengren-citing-worsening-kidney-condition-retire-sept-30-2021-09-27/|access-date=2022-01-11}}{{Cite news|last=Siegel|first=Rachel|date=September 27, 2021|title=Two Fed officials announce retirements amid controversy over ethics and stock trading|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/09/27/eric-rosengren-boston-fed/|newspaper=The Washington Post}} All transactions occurred outside of the Federal Reserve's financial blackout period and were approved by the bank's compliance department.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasfed.org/news/releases/2021/nr210927kaplan|title=Rob Kaplan to retire as Dallas Fed president|website=www.dallasfed.org}} Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called on all Federal Reserve presidents to have a ban on the trading and ownership of individual stocks by regional senior officials. Due to the ethics concerns, Kaplan said he would sell his individual stocks.{{cite news|last=Franck|first=Thomas|date=2021-09-16|title=Powell orders ethics review after Fed presidents disclosed multimillion-dollar investments|work=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/fed-chief-powell-orders-ethics-review-after-multimillion-dollar-trades.html|accessdate=2021-09-16}}

On September 27, 2021, Kaplan announced he would be retiring early from his position as the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, citing distractions over his stock market trades. His retirement took effect on October 8, 2021.{{cite news|last=Cox|first=Jeff|date=2021-09-27|title=Dallas Fed President Kaplan to retire early on Oct. 8, citing trading disclosure 'distraction'|work=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/27/dallas-fed-president-kaplan-to-retire-early-on-oct-8-citing-trading-disclosure-distraction.html|accessdate=2021-09-27}}{{Cite web|title=Rob Kaplan to Retire as Dallas Fed President|url=https://www.dallasfed.org:443/news/releases/2021/nr210927kaplan|access-date=2021-11-12|website=www.dallasfed.org|language=en}}

On January 22, 2024, The Federal Reserve Inspector General cleared Kaplan in their probe of 2020 trades concluding that the trades were allowed under the Fed's rules and didn't violate central bank policies or the law.{{Cite news |last=Timiraos |first=Nick |title=Fed Review Clears Central Bank Officials of Violating Rules |url=https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/fed-review-clears-central-bank-officials-of-violating-rules-9422c9a5?mod=economy_lead_pos3 |access-date=2024-06-05 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}

In May 2024 it was announced that Kaplan would return to work at Goldman Sachs as a Vice Chairman, a role in which he would provide advice to Wall Street clients across global banking and markets, and asset and wealth management.{{Cite news |last=Azhar |first=Saeed |date=May 7, 2024 |title=Goldman Sachs names former Dallas Fed chief Kaplan as vice chairman |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/goldman-sachs-names-former-fed-dallas-chief-kaplan-vice-chairman-2024-05-07/ |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=May 7, 2024 |work=Reuters |pages=}}

Kaplan was also co-founder and chairman of Indaba Capital Management, LP, was chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee at Google, a trustee at the Ford Foundation and has served on the boards of Harvard Management Company, Bed Bath & Beyond, State Street Corporation and Heidrick & Struggles International.{{Cite web |title=Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas |url=https://www.dallasfed.org/news/releases/2015/nr150817 |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=www.dallasfed.org |language=en}}

Personal life and education

Kaplan was born and raised in Prairie Village, Kansas, and is a graduate of the University of Kansas in 1979 and Harvard Business School in 1983. He lives with his two sons in Dallas, Texas.

Kaplan is the chairman of Project A.L.S. and co-chairman of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.{{Cite web |last1=Innovates |first1=Dallas |last2=Murray |first2=Lance |date=2024-02-15 |title=Former Dallas Fed President/CEO Joins Star Mountain Capital as Senior Advisor |url=https://dallasinnovates.com/former-dallas-fed-president-ceo-joins-star-mountain-capital-as-senior-advisor/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Dallas Innovates |language=en-US}} He is also a member of the Advisory Council of the George W. Bush Institute, an Advisory Board Member of the Baker Institute, as well as a board member of Harvard Medical School, St. Mark's School of Texas and the Co-Founding Board Chair Emeritus of the TEAK Fellowship.{{Cite news |last=Harrison |first=David |title=Who Is Robert Steven Kaplan? The Next Dallas Fed President at a Glance |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-is-robert-steven-kaplan-the-next-dallas-fed-president-at-a-glance-1439844496 |access-date=2024-05-17 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}

Bibliography

=Books=

  • Kaplan, Robert Steven. What You Really Need to Lead: The Power of Thinking and Acting Like an Owner. Boston, MA, USA: Harvard Business Review Press, September 2015.
  • Kaplan, Robert Steven. What You're Really Meant To Do: A Road Map for Reaching Your Unique Potential. Boston, MA, USA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.
  • Kaplan, Robert Steven. What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011.{{cite web|title=Robert Steven Kaplan|url=http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=349309|website=Harvard Business School Faculty|publisher=Harvard Business School|access-date=31 July 2015}}

=Journal articles=

  • Neeley, Tsedal, and Robert Steven Kaplan. "What's Your Language Strategy? It Should Bind Your Company's Global Talent Management and Vision." R1409D. Harvard Business Review 92, no. 9 (September 2014): 70–76.
  • Kaplan, Robert Steven. "Top Executives Need Feedback: Here's How They Can Get It." McKinsey Quarterly, no. 4 (2011): 60–71.
  • Kaplan, Robert Steven. "Reaching Your Potential." HBS Centennial Issue Harvard Business Review 86, nos. 7/8 (July–August 2008): 45–49.
  • Kaplan, Robert Steven. "What to Ask the Person in the Mirror." Harvard Business Review 85, no. 1 (January 2007).

References