Rishi Sunak Returns to the World of Finance

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – Rishi Sunak the former Prime Minister of the Great Britain on Wednesday reportedly set to take on a new role as a senior advisor at the global investment bank Goldman Sachs, while simultaneously continuing to serve as an MP for Richmond and Northallerton.

The announcement, made on July 8 and published on both the Goldman Sachs website and its official X account, was titled: “Rishi Sunak joins Goldman Sachs as a Senior Advisor.”

Goldman Sachs In the official statement, the bank’s chief executive David Solomon said: “I am excited to welcome Rishi back to Goldman Sachs in his new capacity as a Senior Advisor. In his role, he will work with leaders across the firm to advise our clients globally on a range of important topics, sharing his unique perspectives and insights on the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape. He will also spend time with our people around the world, contributing to our culture of ongoing learning and development.”

Sunak will collaborate with Goldman executives to advise clients on geopolitical and economic issues.

He got his start at Goldman Sachs—first as an intern in 2000, then as an analyst from 2001 to 2004.

Sunak co-founded an investment firm, media reported.

He entered politics in 2015 as the Conservative MP for Richmond (Yorks). By 2020, he was the Chancellor. Two years later, the Prime Minister. He stepped down in 2024 but remains an MP.

A PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) graduate from Oxford and a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford—where he also met his wife, Akshata Murty, during his studies Sunak has remained engaged in public life since stepping down as Prime Minister, gradually shifting his focus toward academia and, more recently, the banking sector.

Sunak’s move to Goldman Sachs comes with its strings attached. The appointment is subject to conditions set by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, including a standard two-year ban on lobbying, effective from his ministerial exit in July 2024.

ACOBA flagged potential concerns—around Sunak’s prior oversight of the Edinburgh Reforms, which were seen to benefit firms like Goldman Sachs.

It concluded that he wasn’t personally involved in drafting those policies and had minimal direct engagement with the bank during his time in office.

Goldman Sachs clarified that Sunak’s advisory role would steer clear of lobbying, influencing government policy, or drawing on any privileged information from his time in government.