Frank Zarb

Frank Zarb was born to Maltese immigrant parents Gustave Zarb and Rosemary (Antinoro) Zarb in Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager in Flatbush, Brooklyn, he graduated from a vocational high school with a mechanic's certification. His English teacher urged him to go to college.[2] In 1957 he received his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) 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 (MBA) from Hofstra in 1962.[2]

Following a term of service in the army from 1957 to 1958, Zarb started at CITGO, then known as Cities Service Oil Co., as a management trainee.[2] Leaving that post in 1962, he became a general partner at Goodbody & Co..[2] In 1969 he became the executive vice president of CBWL-Hayden Stone.

In 1971, Zarb 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.[2]

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).[2] In 1994, he was appointed CEO of insurance brokerage company Alexander & Alexander Services, Inc.[3] and then oversaw that company's sale to Aon Corp.[4] in 1997.

Shortly after crafting the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) purchase of Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) in 1998 (as the Chairman of LIPA), Zarb became the Chairman and CEO of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) from 1997 to 2001, and head of the NASD's stock exchange, the NASDAQ.

Following his retirement from NASD, Zarb became a managing director of Hellman & Friedman,[5] which subsequently acquired a controlling stake in NASDAQ shortly after it was spun off from the NASD.

In 2005, Zarb replaced his long-time friend 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 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) was investigating Greenberg and AIG for potentially engaging in accounting improprieties.[6]