....colleagues have praised Zients as a master implementer who engenders deep loyalty from the people he oversees.
....Zients, 56, was born in Washington and attended St. Albans School before graduating from Duke University. A successful management consultant, he ran the Advisory Board Company alongside David Bradley before taking it public and netting tens of millions of dollars. In the early 2000s, Zients formed a group to attempt to purchase the Washington Nationals, an effort that was ultimately unsuccessful.
He first entered government during the Obama administration and ended up serving in multiple senior roles, including running the Office of Management and Budget and the National Economic Council. He developed a reputation as “Mr. Fix-It” for his strong operational skills, including helping to fix the troubled rollout of the Obama administration’s health-care website, healthcare.gov.
After leaving the Obama administration, Zients ran a private equity firm and spent two years on the board of Facebook, experience that has drawn criticism from liberals.
During Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, Zients was brought in to help with the campaign’s finances during a particularly difficult stretch. He then co-chaired Biden’s transition before leading the administration’s coronavirus response.
