New Banker

Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick was nominated by President Bush to take over as president of the World Bank. Zoellick would replace Paul Wolfowitz, who steps down at the end of June. Wolfowitz was caught up in a controversy about arranging a pay increase for his live-in companion, who worked at the World Bank before transferring over to the State Department, where her salary was still paid by the World Bank. Zoellick came on board in 2001 as the U.S. Trade Representative when negotiations were ongoing to allow China and Taiwan to join the World Trade Organization. He also helped negotiate the free-trade agreements with the Central American countries that now make up the Dominican Republic–Central American Free-Trade Agreement. He left the U.S. Trade Office in 2005 to work as a deputy secretary of state at the State Department. Last year he took a job with Goldman Sachs, an investment firm.