Gary Cohn's teacher once told his parents he'd be lucky to be a truck driver - and now the Trump adviser and Goldman boss is worth $266 million
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
He ran Goldman Sachs and amassed an estimated net worth of $266 million before becoming Trump's leading economic adviser.
Cohn is also seen as the favorite to run the Federal Reserve, although rumors are swirling that he might leave the Trump administration after the president's behavior following the Charlottesville rally.
But before he achieved insane wealth and status, Cohn was a middle-class kid in Cleveland who struggled with dyslexia, a disorder that makes it more difficult to read and write.
A teacher was doubtful of his future and once told Cohn's parents that "if they were really lucky and spent a lot of time" with Cohn, he might "grow up to be a truck driver," he told a room of educators in 2015 when he was president of Goldman Sachs.
Cohn bounced around from school to school because teachers at the time struggled with how to educate a dyslexic student.
He credits his eventual success to Catholic school Gilmour Academy, where two brothers took an interest in his education.
"I might have been the hardest-working kid in the class with the least amount of results," he said.
After enormous effort, he eventually graduated from American University, leaving his mother a "bucket of tears," according to Malcolm Gladwell's book "David and Goliath."
He would later go to work for his family business before moving to New York to join Wall Street.
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