George Shultz was an American economist, statesman and investor who had a net worth of $10 million at the time of his death. Later in life he gained a level of infamy as a board member of the failed blood testing company Theranos. George died on February 7, 2021 at the age of 100.
Early Life
George P. Shultz was born on December 13, 1920 in New York City. Before entering politics he attended Princeton University where he earned a degree in economics. He served in the Marines from 1942 to 1945. He then earned a Ph.D at M.I.T..
Career
During his life he served in different positions under three American Presidents, all Republicans. Under Nixon he served as the Secretary of the Treasury, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Secretary of Labor. He was Secretary of State during the Reagan administration.
After leaving public office in 1989, Shultz called for the legalization of recreational drugs and then became a behind-the-scenes advocate for various Republic politicians. He served on a number of corporate boards. He was a Board Member of the Bechtel Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation and Gilead Sciences.
Theranos
Perhaps most infamously, George Shultz was a member of the Board of disgraced blood company Theranos. He even arranged for his grandson Tyler to get a job at Theranos.
Tyler would ultimately be one of the primary whistle blowers who helped expose Theranos. George initially did not believe his grandson’s claims and at one point reportedly tried to strong arm Tyler into recanting his statements because he blindly believed in Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Outside of his blind belief, George also had a financial motivation for supporting Theranos. As a member of the board, Elizabeth showered George with stock options. Elizabeth granted George 2.75 million shares of Theranos. At one point those shares were worth around $47 million. George then bought another 200,000 shares with his own funds, bringing his total stake up to $50 million at the company’s peak in the summer of 2015.
After Theranos collapsed in 2018, George finally acknowledged that “troubling practices” had taken place at the company. He also recognized that Tyler “felt personally threatened” by their private confrontation and “believed that I had placed allegiance to the company over allegiance to higher values and our family.”
George was a subject of the 2019 HBO documentary about Theranos called “The Inventor”.
| Net Worth: | $10 Million |
| Date of Birth: | Dec 13, 1920 – Feb 7, 2021 (100 years old) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Profession: | Economist, Politician, Businessperson |
| Nationality: | United States of America |