David Robert Malpass

David Malpass served as President of the World Bank Group from 2019-2023. He expanded financial commitments by 40%, expanded resources, streamlined operations, and maintained fiscal discipline. As a strong crisis leader, his tenure at the World Bank Group provided a record $440 billion in financing to developing countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine, energy shortages, and humanitarian crises. He completed successful equity capital increases for IBRD and IFC; and two key IDA fundraising packages totaling $175 billion to support the world’s 75 poorest countries. His tenure also included:

• Strengthening the WBG’s focus on private sectors, trade finance and infrastructure.

• Record bond issuance by IBRD, IDA, and IFC.

• Creating a global priority to improve the debt restructuring process for sovereigns. 

•  Integrating climate and development objectives to address climate costs, doubling the Bank’s climate finance to a record $32 billion in 2022; and

• Leading highly motivated 25,000 staff and consultants in over 130 locations to achieve good development outcomes for people in developing countries.

Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury: Prior to serving as President of the World Bank Group, Malpass served as Under Secretary for International Affairs of the U.S. Treasury from 2017-2019. He led international economic policy, including finance, currencies, international taxation, China relations, debt restructuring efforts, investment security, and multi-country regulatory frameworks. Malpass worked to improve the global financial system, reform the IMF and World Bank, and promote currency stability policies through the G7 and G20. He sought to enhance national security and economic strength through his work on the 2018 FIRRMA law strengthening CFIUS, the application of sanctions, and the Financial Stability Board’s interaction with Basel III safety and soundness standards. For his service, Malpass was awarded Treasury’s Alexander Hamilton Award in recognition of Distinguished Leadership.

Wall Street: From 1993-2016, Malpass worked as Chief Economist and Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns and as founder and president of a NYC-based economics and market research firm, conducting highly respected analyses of markets around the world. He was regularly voted a top Wall Street economist by Institutional Investor. He wrote the regular “Thought Leaders” column in Forbes for a decade and is the author of over 100 opinion pieces on economics, markets, debt, taxes, and international relations in The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Boards: During his 23-year Wall Street career, Malpass served on the boards and audit committees of the New Mountain Finance Corporation (ticker: NMFC) and UBS Funds. He was on the board of the National Committee on U.S.–China Relations, the Council of the Americas, the Economic Club of New York, and the Manhattan Institute. At the World Bank Group, Malpass was Chairman of the Board and President of the five arms of the institution – IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, and ICSID. At the U.S. Treasury, he sat on the Boards of OPIC (now DFI) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Early Career: Malpass began his career working at a steel foundry that made high-alloy steel used in digging equipment, nuclear castings, and pulp mills and became a CPA. From 1984-1993, he was active in public policy, serving on the staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Joint Economic Committee and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Treasury and State Departments for economic, tax, legislative and international affairs during the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

Education: Malpass earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Colorado College and an MBA from the University of Denver as a Boettcher Scholar. He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Colorado College. He undertook advanced graduate work in international economics at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and has studied Russian, Spanish, and French.