{"id":8048,"date":"2026-04-04T03:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/8048\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:33:25","slug":"former-goldman-sachs-ceo-lloyd-blankfein-says-peter-thiel-is-wrong-college-is-worth-it-because-it-makes-you-a-complete-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/8048\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein says Peter Thiel is wrong: College is worth it because it makes you a ‘complete person’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI strongly disagree with the technology investor Peter Thiel,\u201d Blankfein wrote in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, Streetwise, shared with<\/a> Vanity Fair. \u201cTo succeed in a career, you have to know the technical minutiae of your field, of course. But you also need to be a complete person\u2014the kind of person other people want to engage with.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the best ways that aspiring professionals can grow as individuals and set themselves up for career success is by going to college, Blankfein advised.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The longtime executive is an alum of both Harvard University and Harvard Law School, and in remembering his undergraduate years recalled he \u201csurvived\u201d the experience more than he enjoyed it. Blankfein conceded the Ivy League school might not be a perfect fit for everyone, but it undeniably opened doors for his future career and was \u201cthe best place to have gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ex\u2013Goldman Sachs leader says the school nurtured his confidence, writing skills, love of history, and engagement with current events. And he might have missed out on that growth if he\u2019d skipped the experience altogether; Blankfein recognizes the value in a liberal arts education.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour undergraduate years are your best opportunity to make yourself uncomfortable in a way that can help make you more curious and interesting,\u201d Blankfein added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The anti-college Thiel and Meritocracy Fellowship<\/p>\n

Blankfein\u2019s vocal appreciation for the college experience comes at a time when some tech leaders are challenging the efficacy of higher ed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just last spring, Palantir launched its Meritocracy Fellowship<\/a>: a four-month, paid internship for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college. During their stint at the company, Gen Zers learn about U.S. history and foundations of the West, and work alongside Palantir\u2019s full-time employees in solving technical problems and improving products.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The gig was advertised as a way to \u201cget the Palantir degree\u201d and \u201cskip the debt. Skip the indoctrination.\u201d Cofounder and CEO Alex Karp added that<\/a> the internship was created to combat the \u201cshortcomings of university admissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOpaque admissions standards at many American universities have displaced meritocracy and excellence,\u201d the Palantir job posting said<\/a>. \u201cAs a result, qualified students are being denied an education based on subjective and shallow criteria. Absent meritocracy, campuses have become breeding grounds for extremism and chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Palantir cofounder Thiel has been disrupting the college-to-job pipeline for much longer. Since 2011, the Thiel Fellowship has been handing out sizable grants to young people who are willing to drop out of college and launch their businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program has minted around a<\/a> dozen unicorns so far, with notable fellowship alumni including Figma<\/a> cofounder Dylan Field<\/a> and Scale AI<\/a> creator Lucy Guo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The CEOs who agree that college degrees are still important<\/p>\n

The former Goldman Sachs CEO isn\u2019t the only business leader espousing the value of college degrees. Cofounder of AI giant Anthropic<\/a> Daniela Amodei<\/a> believes the liberal arts<\/a> won\u2019t fade into the background in an increasingly tech-driven world\u2014they\u2019ll actually be pushed to the forefront of innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually think studying the humanities is going to be more important than ever,\u201d Amodei said in<\/a> a recent interview with ABC News. \u201cThe ability to have critical thinking skills and learn how to interact with other people will be more important in the future, rather than less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even leaders who achieved massive success outside of corporate life advise aspiring professionals to stay in school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Multimillionaire music icon Usher did not attend college himself, but he still recognizes the value of<\/a> attending university. However, he cautions that one slip of paper won\u2019t carry them far\u2014budding workers need to work hard and put their skills to good use once they set foot off campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cA diploma still matters, yes of course it matters, but it\u2019s not the paper that gives the power, it\u2019s you, you create the value behind that degree,\u201d Usher told graduates<\/a> of Emory University last year. \u201cIt is your ambition, it is your integrity, it is your hustle, it is your heart; that\u2019s how you lead, that\u2019s how you serve, that\u2019s how you choose to show up when no one else is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI strongly disagree with the technology investor Peter Thiel,\u201d Blankfein wrote in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[7672,1720,2683,766,5469,1846,3403,3313,2686,2687,7673,7674,836,7675,1784,5394,228,6440,6319,7676],"class_list":{"0":"post-8048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-peter-thiel","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-career-advice","10":"tag-careers","11":"tag-chief-executive-officer-ceo","12":"tag-colleges-and-universities","13":"tag-education","14":"tag-entrepreneurs","15":"tag-entrepreneurship","16":"tag-executives","17":"tag-founders","18":"tag-goldman-sachs-group","19":"tag-harvard-university","20":"tag-jobs","21":"tag-lloyd-blankfein","22":"tag-palantir","23":"tag-palantir-technologies","24":"tag-peter-thiel","25":"tag-students","26":"tag-young-adults","27":"tag-young-workers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116344337585325309","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}