FACTBOX-Goldman Sachs alumni in the news

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) alumni have for decades gone on to top leadership positions throughout the business world and in government.

On Wednesday, NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) Chairman and Chief Executive John Thain, a Goldman alumnus, accepted an offer to become the new CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co MER.N, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Stanley O'Neal on Nov. 5.

The news is the latest headline-grabbing development involving former executives from the secretive investment bank, currently led by Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein. Below is a list of some former bank officials:

JOHN THAIN -- The former co-president of Goldman Sachs left a 24-year career at the world's biggest investment bank to become chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange in 2004. He merged the NYSE with electronic trading network Archipelago in 2005, accelerated the Big Board's adoption of electronic trading and converted the nonprofit club into a publicly listed company. Last year, he merged NYSE Group with Euronext to build the first trans-Atlantic exchange operator.

DUNCAN NIEDERAUER -- The former equities trading executive joined the NYSE in February after 22 years at Goldman Sachs and was named president and co-chief operating officer. Niederauer on Wednesday was named the Big Board's new chairman and CEO, succeeding Thain.

ROBERT RUBIN -- Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and chairman of the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton. He was co-head of Goldman in the early 1990s before joining Clinton's cabinet in 1992. In 2001, Rubin left Washington to join Citigroup (C.N) as chairman of the executive committee. Last month, after CEO Chuck Prince resigned under pressure, Rubin took on the bigger role of nonexecutive chairman and is leading the search for a new CEO.

HENRY "HANK" PAULSON - Paulson joined Goldman Sachs in 1974 and rose quickly as an investment banker to become partner in eight years. He was chief executive from 1999 to May last year, when he was named U.S. Treasury Secretary by President George W. Bush.

JON CORZINE - Now the Democratic governor of New Jersey, Corzine joined Goldman Sachs as a bond trader in 1975 and worked his way up to CEO. He played a key role in pushing the white-shoe partnership to become a publicly traded bank in 1999, although he was ousted by his co-CEO, Paulson.

DANIEL OCH - The former star Goldman trader left to co-found and head up Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM.N), which on Wednesday became the first U.S. hedge-fund-only company to go public. Its shares fell 4 percent in their market debut following a $1.15 billion offering.

ROBERT STEEL - U.S. Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, under Paulson. He recently helped direct the creation of the "Super-SIV," a giant investment pool designed to bail out special investment vehicles hammered by the current credit crunch. He was a Goldman vice chairman when Paulson was CEO.

ROBERT KAPLAN - The former vice chairman and head of Goldman's investment banking and investment management businesses was recently named interim head of the Harvard Management Co, Harvard University's $35 billion endowment. Kaplan is a professor at Harvard Business School.

JOHN THORNTON - Along with Thain, he was formerly president and co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs. After "the two Johns" quit, believing they would not ascend to the top spot at Goldman, Thornton went on to be chairman of the Brookings Institution. He is also co-chairman of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, which is trying to improve the competitiveness of U.S. markets.

EDWARD LAMPERT - A protege of Rubin in Goldman's risk arbitrage department, he left to form one of the world's top performing hedge funds, ESL Investments. He was nicknamed "the next Warren Buffett" after he acquired Kmart for less than $1 billion, using the retailer as a cash cow to make other investments and reaping the value of its real estate assets. He later orchestrated the $11 billion merger of Kmart and Sears Roebuck & Co.

CHRISTOPHER FLOWERS - Head of J.C. Flowers & Co, a buyout firm that unveiled a $25 billion plan to take student lender Sallie Mae private. Currently he's waging a legal battle after trying to slash his offer. Flowers, who founded Goldman's financial institutions merger advisory practice, left the firm in 1998. Two years later he participated in the takeover of Japan's Long Term Credit bank, which went public in 2004 as Shinsei Bank (8303.T). He made an unsuccessful bid for failed commodities broker Refco in 2005.

JOHN WHITEHEAD -- A 38-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, he retired in 1984 as co-chair and senior partner. More recently he was chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp and at one time chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He was a deputy secretary of state in 1985, a second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz under President Ronald Reagan.

JOSHUA BOLTEN - Bush's White House chief of staff was Goldman's executive director for legal and government affairs from 1994 to 1999. (Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; editing by Andre Grenon and Lisa Von Ahn)