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Business 22 Jun 2026

Did you know? Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand were close friends

One of the most intellectually important relationships in the life of the late Fed chair Alan Greenspan was with his close friend, the formidable novelist and libertarian thinker Ayn Rand.

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One of the most intellectually important relationships in the life of the late Fed chair Alan Greenspan was with his close friend, the formidable novelist and libertarian thinker Ayn Rand. One of the most important intellectual relationships in the life of Alan Greenspan, the prominent former central banker who died Monday, was with author Ayn Rand, whose 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged has become a perennial favorite among conservatives and which the Library of Congress named as one of the books that has shaped America. They were introduced through Greenspan's then-wife, the Canadian art historian Joan Mitchell. Mitchell was a close friend of the wife of Nathaniel Branden. Branden was Rand's protege and longtime lover. Greenspan and Mitchell wed in 1952, but divorced within a year. By contrast, Greenspan's relationship with Rand was far more lasting: they remained friends until her death in 1982. Through the Branden connection, Greenspan joined Rand's "Collective," a small group of friends and thinkers who would gather regularly at Rand's midtown Manhattan apartment to discuss politics, world events and ideas.

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