After handpicking Summers as his successor, Rubin returned to the private sector in May 1999 to become a director of Citigroup, an $82 billion company that combines Citibank with one of the largest insurance firms, Travelers group, to provide investor services, according to the company’s website.
The Man
“I don’t think many people saw him outside of work,” Siewert says. “He would fly back to NY where his family lived and when he had time off he would go fishing. He certainly didn’t know Washington cocktail parties.”
Rubin is an avid fly fisherman who often flies his own plane to remote areas in order to pursue his hobby. On one occasion, Rubin flew his own plane to Vermont so he could fish after speaking at an engagement.
In the Clinton White House, Rubin was known for being notoriously out of touch with pop culture.
“The President would constantly tease him about his gaps in current cultural knowledge,” Sperling says. “It was a running joke with the president that Rubin did not seem too sure who Aretha Franklin was.”
Podesta says, “If you asked him who President Bartlet is, or even Martin Sheen for that matter, he probably wouldn’t know.”
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