Jon Winkelried on Lessons from Goldman Sachs and TPG’s Next Chapter

July 27, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

From Goldman Partner to TPG CEO: Bringing People Along

Jon Winkelried's path to becoming CEO of TPG began with a lucky accident. As a business school student at the University of Chicago, he had bid all his interview points for Lehman Brothers, then received a form letter from Goldman Sachs that he mistook for a personal invitation. At 11:15 PM on the night bidding closed, he changed his bid to Goldman. He showed up for what he thought was an investment banking interview, only to discover it was for the sales and trading summer program. The interviewer told him bluntly to "get your head out of your, you know, what, and figure out what you're doing here." Winkelried got the job anyway—one of six spots in the program—and knew within days that he had found his career.

The Partnership Culture and Going Public

Winkelried became a Goldman partner at 31 in 1990, later serving as co-head of investment banking, then co-president and co-CEO alongside Gary Cohn. He was present for the firm's transition from private partnership to public company, a process that took decades. The firm first considered going public in 1986 but faced too much opposition from partners worried about cultural dynamics. It came up again in the early 1990s as the capital structure needed addressing.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:05) **Leadership Principle: Bringing People Along** - Jon introduces his core leadership philosophy: you can't lead in a vacuum when surrounded by smart, motivated people.
2 (00:28) **Introduction & Career Arc** - Matt McClure introduces Jon Winkelried, tracing his 27-year career at Goldman Sachs from summer analyst to co-CEO, and his subsequent move to lead TPG.
3 (01:42) **The Accidental Start: From Financial Aid to Goldman Sachs** - Jon recounts his unconventional path to Wall Street, driven by financial necessity and a lucky chance.
4 (03:50) **Falling in Love with the Career** - Jon describes the immediate sense of belonging and excitement he felt upon starting at Goldman Sachs.
5 (04:28) **The Goldman Sachs IPO: Preserving Culture Through Change** - Jon walks through the firm's journey to going public, emphasizing the internal debate and focus on maintaining the partnership ethos.
6 (07:07) **Pivoting to TPG: A Different Mindset** - Jon details the challenges of moving from the institutional depth of Goldman Sachs to the smaller, more entrepreneurial environment of TPG.
7 (09:44) **Driving a "One Firm" Orientation** - Jon explains the difficulty of getting a traditionally siloed private equity firm to embrace diversification and collaboration.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

TPG has evolved into one of the world's leading alternative asset management firms, with over $300 billion in assets under management. Jon Winkelried, CEO of TPG and a Goldman Sachs alum, joins Matt McClure, global co-head of Investment Banking, to reflect on his career journey. From his early days as a summer analyst to serving as Goldman Sachs' co-president and co-COO, Winkelried discusses the pivotal moments that shaped the firm across decades, as well as his role in TPG's IPO, strategic expansion, and approach to navigating the AI landscape.

This episode was recorded on June 9, 2026.

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