Gensler, who tended to high-level surrogates and donors as a senior adviser to Clinton in 2008, had the financial pressures of that race in mind when he told her that the way he could be most helpful this time around was as CFO. Looking at an operation that, if Clinton were to become the nominee, would, along with the Democratic National Committee, need to raise and spend $1 billion and hire 4,000 people, Gensler thought he could make it all work, with enough money for the mission. He'd been counting money since he was a kid, helping his dad's vending business, and his final job at Goldman Sachs, co-head of finance, included many of the functions of a CFO.