A Goldman Partner’s Odyssey From Karachi to Wooing America
- Bank is pinning growth of its Marcus business on a new boss
- His mission: Persuade consumers to embrace Goldman Sachs
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Omer Ismail knows some people can’t believe he was chosen to sell America on Goldman Sachs.
He talks of his first years in the U.S. as a Muslim man from Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks -- learning firsthand about strangers who look askance at people who look or sound like him. He keeps reminders in his desk, like a news clipping raising alarm about a link between his hometown and a plot to bomb Times Square. The headline blares: “THE KARACHI CONNECTION.”