Jeffrey Dunston Zients (born November 12, 1966) is an American business executive and government official who served as
Counselor to the President
Counselor or counsellor may refer to:
A professional In diplomacy and government
* Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability
* Counselor (dip ...
and the
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator from January 2021 to April 2022.
He was the director of the
National Economic Council from February 2014 to January 2017. Zients was also acting director of the
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, poli ...
in 2010 and from 2012 to 2013. Before entering government, Zients was an executive at firms including
The Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board Company was a consulting firm focusing on health care organizations and educational institutions. It began in 1979 in Washington, DC. Its educational business was spun off and the remaining company was acquired by Optum in 2017. ...
and
CEB.
, Zients was on 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. In January 2021, he began serving as both
Counselor to the President
Counselor or counsellor may refer to:
A professional In diplomacy and government
* Counsellor of State, senior member of the British royal family to whom the Monarch can delegate some functions in case of unavailability
* Counselor (dip ...
and Coordinator of the
COVID-19 response in the
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
, succeeding
Deborah Birx
Deborah Leah Birx (born April 4, 1956) is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021. Birx specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine resear ...
in the latter role. He resigned in April 2022 and was succeeded by
Ashish Jha.
Early life and education
Zients was born in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
and raised in
Kensington, Maryland. His family is
Jewish.
Zients graduated from the
St. Albans School prep school in 1984 and received a degree in political science from
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jame ...
, graduating
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in 1988.
Business career
After college, Zients worked in management consulting for Mercer Management Consulting (now
Oliver Wyman) and
Bain & Company. As a consultant Zients reportedly "fell in love with Bain's culture, teamwork … and analytical rigor".
After Bain, he was appointed the chief operating officer of DGB Enterprises, a holding company for the
Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board Company was a consulting firm focusing on health care organizations and educational institutions. It began in 1979 in Washington, DC. Its educational business was spun off and the remaining company was acquired by Optum in 2017. ...
,
Corporate Executive Board
CEB, now a part of Gartner, was a company providing best practice research, benchmarks, and decision support tools to business leaders in HR, Finance, IT, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Strategy, R&D, Procurement, Legal, and Compliance funct ...
, and
Atlantic Media Company
Atlantic Media is an American print and online media company owned by David G. Bradley and based in the Watergate in Washington, D.C. It publishes ''The Atlantic,'' a print and online publication that also holds themed events; and offers business ...
.
At age 35, Zients was named to
Fortune Magazine's "40 under 40", with an estimated wealth of $149 million.
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
The Advisory Board Company was a consulting firm focusing on health care organizations and educational institutions. It began in 1979 in Washington, DC. Its educational business was spun off and the remaining company was acquired by Optum in 2017. ...
and former chairman (2000–2001) of the
Corporate Executive Board
CEB, now a part of Gartner, was a company providing best practice research, benchmarks, and decision support tools to business leaders in HR, Finance, IT, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Strategy, R&D, Procurement, Legal, and Compliance funct ...
.
Zients and
David G. Bradley
David G. Bradley (born 1953) is partner in The Atlantic and Atlantic Media and the owner of the National Journal Group. Before his career as a publisher, Bradley founded the Advisory Board Company and Corporate Executive Board, two Washington-bas ...
took each of the companies public through
initial public offerings that made both men
multimillionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short sca ...
s.
Portfolio Logic
Zients founded and was the managing partner of Portfolio Logic LLC, an investment firm primarily focused on health care and business services.
He was a member of the board of directors of
XM Satellite Radio until its 2008 merger, and a board member at
Sirius XM Radio until his Senate confirmation.
Zients also sat on the boards of
Revolution Health Group and Timbuk2 Designs.
Baseball
In 2005, Zients formed a group with
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
and
Fred Malek
Frederic Vincent Malek (December 22, 1936 – March 24, 2019) was an American business executive, political advisor, and philanthropist. He was a president of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines and an assistant to United States Presidents Ri ...
, among others, to compete for the purchase of the
Washington Nationals.
The group planned for Malek to be the managing partner for the first three years, after which Zients would take over.
The group was unsuccessful; the team was purchased by a group led by the
Lerner Lerner is a German and Jewish family name. Its literal meaning can be either "student" or "scholar". It may refer to:
Organizations
* Lerner Enterprises, a real estate company
* Lerner Newspapers
* Lerner Publishing Group, a publisher of chil ...
family.
Obama administration
Office of Management and Budget
In 2009, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
appointed Zients to the new position of
United States Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management (DDM) of the Office of Management and Budget.
It was Zients's first governmental experience.
According to Obama, his assignment was to help "streamline processes, cut costs, and find best practices throughout" the U.S. government.
His nomination was approved by the Senate in June 2009. As DDM, Zients established and chaired the
President's Management Council.
Zients was the acting director of OMB from July 2010 to November 2010, and again from January 2012 to April 2013.
Healthcare.gov
Following the error-plagued launch of
healthcare.gov
HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated by the United States federal government under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, commonly referred to as “Obamacare”, which currently serves the residents of the ...
on October 1, 2013, Obama and White House Chief of Staff
Denis McDonough
Denis Richard McDonough (born December 2, 1969) is an American government official serving as the 11th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Joe Biden since 2021.
McDonough served in the Obama Administration as chief of ...
asked Zients to take charge of fixing the website.
While leading the "tech surge" to do that, Zients also had an ownership position in
PSA Healthcare. The position of the White House was that Zients's stake in PSA Healthcare, a pediatric home health business, was not a conflict of interest.
National Economic Council
From 2014 to 2017, Zients was an assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the
National Economic Council (NEC).
Zients also chaired the
President's Management Advisory Board
The President's Management Advisory Board is or was a council of 17 corporate executives from leading American companies. Its purpose was to provide the administration of the executive branch advice and recommendations on effective strategies for t ...
.
''
The Wall Street Journal'' called Zients "a kind of ambassador to the business community",
and lobbying groups such as the
Business Roundtable and the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...
praised Zients as someone who heard them out.
At NEC, Zients worked with the
Department of Labor
The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...
to finalize the fiduciary rule, also known as the conflict of interest rule. It required financial advisers to provide advice in their clients' best interest. The rule was strongly criticized by Wall Street leaders and business groups and was struck down by a federal appeals court in 2018.
In 2015, while NEC director, Zients described the
Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Pe ...
as "a massive tax cut for American businesses".
Private sector
Facebook
Zients joined
Facebook's board of directors in 2018, following the
Cambridge Analytica scandal.
While on Facebook's board, Zients chaired the
Audit and Risk Oversight Committee.
According to Facebook, he declined to seek re-election in 2020 "to devote more time to his business and other professional interests". Zients was paid $100,000 in cash and roughly $300,000 in stock in exchange for his work on Facebook's audit committee.
As of December 2020, Zients had reportedly sold all of his holdings of Facebook stock.
Cranemere
Zients was the CEO of the Wall Street investment firm Cranemere, an investment firm owned by
Vincent Mai
Vincent Mai ( /ˈmeɪ/ mAY) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He was born, and grew up, in South Africa. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of The Cranmere Group, an investment holding company. The Cranmere Group focuses on investin ...
, for which he earned a combined salary and bonus of $1.6 million.
, Zients was on leave from his position as chief executive officer of Cranemere.
Biden administration
In summer 2020, Saguaro Strategies, a media and consulting firm, heavily edited Zients's
Wikipedia article as he became more prominent in the
Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign
Former vice president Joe Biden began his presidential campaign on April 25, 2019 by releasing a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The campaign concluded with him and his running mate Kamala ...
.
, Zients was co-chair of the
presidential transition of Joe Biden
The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...
. He was described as "an important power center in the Biden transition team" and noted as a candidate for several positions in the incoming administration.
On December 7, 2020, the Biden transition announced Zients's presumptive appointment as coordinator of the COVID-19 response and counselor to the president. The absence of any comprehensive COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan at the time of the handover from the outgoing Trump administration became an urgent priority for Zients after the inauguration on January 20, 2021.
In July 2021, Zients came under criticism for delaying the relaxation of travel restrictions between the US and Europe.
In March 2022, Zients announced he would be leaving the Biden administration in April, to be succeeded by
Dr. Ashish Jha.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zients, Jeffrey
1966 births
21st-century American politicians
American chief operating officers
American company founders
American management consultants
American technology chief executives
Bain & Company employees
Biden administration personnel
Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.
Deputy Directors for Management of the Office of Management and Budget
Directors of the Office of Management and Budget
Duke University alumni
Living people
Obama administration cabinet members
Jewish American government officials
People from Kensington, Maryland
St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni