Snacks for the Bailout

He is the 35-year-old who rose from obscurity to media spotlight when Henry Paulson tapped him to oversee the Treasury Department's $700 billion rescue plan.

You now know Neel Kashkari as a former Goldman Sachs tech banker and a former rocket scientist (well, aerospace engineer). An Ohioan. Fan of AC/DC.

But did you know he was a defender of animal crackers?

In 2002, Kashkari was a student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The student newspaper The Wharton Journal posed the question, "Should vegetarians be allowed to eat animal crackers?"

Kashkari and a fellow student, Umber Ahmad, apparently thought so.

"You've got to keep all of your options open if you want to even have a chance at a job this year. And you definitely need to wipe your ass before every interview," they replied in a comment to the paper.

Ahmad also went on to work at Goldman and is now a principal at Goldenridge Capital, a private investment firm in New York.

The economic meltdown has given a number of insights into the snack-food cravings of U.S. financial titans:

Paulson and Kashkari power their 18-hour workdays with Diet Coke.

Chips, bottled water, and trays of cookies fueled the weekend of meetings about the future of Lehman.

Warren Buffett opts for Cherry Coke, mixed nuts, and Cheetos in a time of crisis.

Mary Bridges

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