Peter N. Goettler, born in 1965, is the President and CEO of the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. He holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with concentrations in applied economics, finance, and marketing. Goettler began his career as an investment banker in the mid-1980s at Salomon Brothers, later building operations at Merrill Lynch and serving as a managing director at Barclays Capital. Prior to joining Cato in April 2015, his Wall Street roles included Head of Investment Banking and Debt Capital Markets–Americas, Head of Global Leveraged Finance, and Head of Global Loans. Under his leadership at Cato, he has overseen operations and engaged on policy issues across media platforms.