Goldman Sachs' CEO Lloyd Blankfein Is the American Dream

While the media is often filled with negativity, and criticism of the successful, there should also be celebration of success and the good things. All Americans should celebrate the good news which was announced yesterday that Goldman Sachs' CEO Lloyd Blankfein is a billionaire, with a net worth of $1.1 Billion Dollars.

This news is the celebration of opportunity, of free enterprise, of capitalism. It’s a celebration of a man who grew up with nothing and made it to the absolute top of the business world. What great news.

Lloyd Blankfein grew up with nothing — having been born in the Bronx, he was raised in Brooklyn housing projects. As Business Insider reported, Blankfein “ . . . shared a small apartment with his extended family, including his grandmother, his sister, and his nephew. His father worked the night shift because it paid about 10 percent more than the day shift. His mother worked as a receptionist at a burglar alarm company.”

This is the American dream, a role model for all of us who seek to make ourselves better. He worked as a concession vendor at Yankee Stadium, attended Harvard University on scholarship and had to work in the cafeteria to pay bills. In later remarks he noted that he found college "intimidating" and he felt "insecure” – and inspired him to work harder.

This is an American hero — who works hard, and succeeds. Lloyd Blankfein represents, and epitomizes, success and is someone who has made it through drive and ambition — this is the American way. It’s enviable and admirable.

Blankfein in a speech to college students said that ambition drives him, noting "Ambition is your inner voice that tells you you can and should strive to go beyond your circumstances or station in life.

"You have overcome obstacles, pressures and self-doubt and you have done it because you have ambition. You want to succeed for your families and yourselves.”

The story of Lloyd Blankfein is inspiring, and motivating. The American dream is alive and well, and hard work, determination and drive can make anyone get ahead.

Congratulations to the Goldman Sachs CEO for his success. Here’s another Bronx native hoping he gets to his next Billion Dollars real soon.

Ronn Torossian is one of America’s foremost Public Relations executives as founder/CEO of 5WPR, a leading independent PR Agency. The firm was honored as PR Firm of the Year by The American Business Awards, and has been named to the Inc. 500 List. Torossian is author of the best-selling "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations." For more of Ronn Torossian's reports, Go Here Now.