Jay Clayton: podcast appearances and interviews

Walter Joseph Jay Clayton III is an American attorney known for his service as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2017 to 2020. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in engineering and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1993 with a Juris Doctor. He also earned a second bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Cambridge in 1990. Clayton clerked for Marvin Katz at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1993 to 1995. He worked for over twenty years at Sullivan & Cromwell, a law firm involved in business transactions. In January 2017, he was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the chair of the SEC, and the Senate confirmed his appointment in May of that year. He resigned from the SEC in December 2020 and subsequently worked with Apollo Global Management and returned to Sullivan & Cromwell. In April 2025, President Trump appointed Clayton as the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, a position he was confirmed to by district judges in August of that year. In June 2026, he was nominated by Trump to serve as the director of national intelligence.