Neel Kashkari, the man who helped create and run the $700bn Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) will join Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) as managing director and head of new investment initiatives, beginning on Monday. Former US Treasury Department interim assistant secretary for financial stability, Kashkari led the Office of Financial Stability under the Bush and Obama administrations, a post he held until May 2009. Previously he was a vice president at Goldman Sachs (GS), leading the firm’s information technology security investment banking practice. When Henry Paulson left his post as Goldman chairman to take over as Treasury secretary, Kashkari joined him and served as a senior advisor to Paulson. A Washington Post article published Sunday chronicles Kashkari’s life in his secluded California retreat since leaving Washington DC and before accepting the PIMCO post. Kashkari previously was an aerospace engineer at TRW Corp., where he developed technology for NASA science missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope. He holds an undergraduate and masters engineering degrees from the University of Illinois and a MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. Write to Austin Kilgore.