Gemini poaches a former Goldman Sachs, Citadel techie as its director of business development

Exchanges • October 11, 2018, 6:17PM EDT
The Block

Gemini has poached a former Goldman Sachs executive director, as the firm continues to scoop up big ticket talent. The cryptocurrency exchange, led by the Winklevoss twins, recently welcomed Esther Babb to the firm as its director of business development, her LinkedIn indicates. Babb, who most recently worked in data intelligence at Goldman Sachs, has a long resume from her 20-year career on Wall Street.

She started at Goldman in 2000, working in numerous roles across investment banking as well as sales and trading. As an executive director, she managed European fixed-income sales, a $4 billion business, according to her Linkedin. A Goldman Sachs spokeswoman did not respond to an email seeking comment. Babb also didn't respond to a message seeking comment.

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She left the firm in 2010 to join Citadel, the Chicago hedge fund. As a senior business analyst, she managed teams within Surveyor Capital, a unit of Citadel, to build out an equity hedge fund platform. She also worked on a number of proprietary tech initiatives. 

In 2017, she rejoined Goldman as a VP in equities technology business management, according to her LinkedIn. She left the firm in July 2018 after working in data intelligence strategy. 

The hire, which has not previously been reported on, preceded two other notable hires. Sydney Brie Schaub, formerly general counsel and corporate secretary for fashion startup Rent The Runway, recently joined Gemini. And the firm recently announced the hire of Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto as a managing director covering operations, as The Block previously reported. 

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