Frank Zarb

Frank Gustave Zarb is an American businessman and former Republican politician. He is perhaps best known as the Chairman and CEO of the NASDAQ stock exchange during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. He is also known for his role as the "Energy Czar" under President Gerald Ford during the 1970s energy crisis.

Frank Zarb was born to Maltese immigrant parents Gustave Zarb and Rosemary (Antinoro) Zarb in Brooklyn, New York. In 1957 he received his Bachelor of Business Administration at Hofstra University, then known as Hofstra College, on Long Island. Following his time in the army, he went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Hofstra in 1962.

Following a term of service in the army from 1957 to 1958, Frank started at CITGO, then known as Cities Service Oil Co, as a management trainee. Leaving that post in 1962, he became a general partner at Goodbody and Company. In 1969 he became the executive vice president of CBWL-Hayden Stone.

In 1971 Frank went into public service, serving first as Assistant Secretary of Labor (1971–1972), then as Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (1973–74). Finally in 1974 he was appointed "Energy Czar" by President Ford, holding dual appointments in the Energy Resources Council and the Federal Energy Administration until 1977.

After leaving the federal government in 1977, Zarb became a senior partner at Lazard (1977–1988), CEO and Chairman of Smith Barney (1988–1993), and group chief executive of Travelers Group (1993–1994). In 1994, he was appointed CEO of insurance brokerage company Alexander & Alexander Services, Inc. and then oversaw that company's sale to Aon Corp. in 1997.

Shortly after crafting the LIPA Purchase of LILCO in 1998 (as the chairman of LIPA) Zarb became the Chairman and CEO of the National Association of Securities DealersFrom 1997 to 2001, (NASD) and head of the NASD's stock exchange, the NASDAQ.

Following his retirement from NASD, Zarb became a managing director of Hellman & Friedman, which subsequently acquired a controlling stake in Nasdaq shortly after it was spun off from NASD.

In 2005, Zarb replaced his long-time friend Maurice Hank Greenberg as head of the American International Group, in what Greenberg termed as a "palace coup." At the time, Greenberg was battling charges by then-New York Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, who (along with the SEC) was investigating AIG for potentially engaging in accounting improprieties.

In 1974, Hofstra University gave Zarb the Distinguished Scholar award in recognition of his contributions to the University. In 1975 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Hofstra in recognition of his contributions to the University. In 1994, the School of Business at Hofstra was renamed the Frank G. Zarb School of Business in recognition of his service as the Chairman of the University's Board of Trustees. In 2008 the Zarb School alumni association was created in his honor.

Zarb serves as an "Executive in Residence" at Columbia Business School, the graduate school of business at Columbia University in the City of New York.