Who is Neel Kashkari?

Neel Kashkari is ultimately responsible for passing out the cash from the $700 billion dollar bailout. The only problem is, the average American has no clue who he is.

Kashkari, by most standards, is a fast-rising youngster in the world of finance. He's only 35 and has spent just two years as a member of the U.S. Treasury Department.

Prior coming on board for the Treasury Department, Kashkari worked for Goldman Sachs, a bank holding company and investment firm. Besides owning banks and investing, the company is an advisor to corporations and the very wealthy.

Goldman Sachs also advises the government, which is probably how Kashkari made the move to the Treasury so easily. Advising the government what to do with their money is something his firm often does, but it's not clear how much of that Kashkari did in that capacity as "he led Goldman's IT Security Investment Banking practice, advising public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions and financial transactions," according to his bio on the U.S. Treasury website.

He's no slowpoke in the brains department. Before he moved to finance as a career, advising and developing tech for NASA was his career of choice. He did R & D for missions such as the Webb Telescope. He's got a Bachelors and Masters in Engineering as well as a Master of Business Administration.

As you might be able to tell from his less than common name, he's not really a member of the old boy network, instead he comes from a newer demographic as an Indian-American (whose parents are from India).

The India connection may have helped to launch his career at the Treasury. Since joining the Treasury in 2006 he's had a host of high-level duties, including "enhancing Treasury's engagement with India, particularly in the area of infrastructure development." It's hard to say if that was the primary reason for taking him on, just a happy bonus for the department or if he adopted it as his own project.

He's also had his hands on other projects as Senior Advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.