Goldman Sachs' No. 2 exec will get a big payout if he joins Trump's administration
Jim Young/Reuters
Goldman Sachs COO and President Gary Cohn is set to accept a position in the Trump administration — and it could mean a big pay day for him.
The Wall Street executive is soon to accept a role as President-elect Trump's National Economic Council director, according to CNBC.
He will need to sell his shares in Goldman Sachs to avoid a conflict of interest. As of November 14, he held 872,712 shares worth about $210 million in total, according to Bloomberg.
What's more: Cohn will be allowed to defer paying any capital gains taxes from the sale .
The same thing happened when the former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson became Treasury secretary in 2006.
As Fortune explained at the time, government officials are allowed to hold off on paying capital gains taxes on assets they sell to avert conflicts of interest — as long as they reinvest the proceeds in government securities or a government-approved mutual fund.
Fortune's Stephen Gandel on Monday reported that Cohn's holding has gained $52 million in value since the election on November 8.