The Salt Lake Tribune’s board of directors needed “someone with some great financial background,” the board’s chairman said – and the board found that person at one of the country’s leading investment firms.

Jamal Osman, a banking executive and financial analyst at at Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking and securities firm with offices in Salt Lake City, joined The Tribune’s board in May.

Tom Love, the board’s chairman, said Osman, a vice president in Goldman Sachs’ controller’s division, will work closely with Doug Ryle, The Tribune’s director of finance and budget, “to help us better understand what the future looks like.”

Though relatively new to Utah, having moved to the state in 2020, Osman said he’s eager to contribute to The Tribune’s growth and apply his financial expertise to support its mission of delivering quality journalism to its readers.

“I found the opportunity very intriguing, because of the stage of where The Tribune is at from its evolution,” Osman said, referring to The Tribune’s transition to a 501(c)3, a shift that granted the paper nonprofit status and allowed for tax-deductible donations to support the newspaper’s operations.

The Tribune was the first major metro to become a nonprofit in 2019 and named its first board of directors in 2020. Osman will help guide the nonprofit news organization’s financial success, said Love, founding partner and president of Love Communications.

Love said The Tribune depends on three main revenue streams: philanthropy and donor support, advertising and subscriptions. As the nonprofit continues to grow, Love said the Tribune is looking for ways to expand its philanthropy and donor base.

As the first board member with a lifelong career in finance, Love said, Osman will help assess how each revenue stream performs and affects expenses. Those insights, Love said, are key to The Tribune’s long-term planning and sustainability.

Osman was born and raised in Pakistan, and completed his undergraduate studies at Lahore University of Management Sciences, a private research university in the country. He moved to Japan to earn a master’s degree in finance from the International University of Japan, while also obtaining his Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

After earning his master’s degree, Osman joined Goldman Sachs in Japan before transferring to the company’s New York office in 2015.

After five years in the Big Apple, Osman moved to Salt Lake City to oversee the growing controller’s team, which is responsible for “reporting and essentially safeguarding the controls around the financial statements of the bank.” He described the role as a blend of accounting and risk management.

Though still early in his tenure on the board, Osman said he’s excited to be at the table with Tribune decision-makers. He said he values the paper’s role in informing the public on the issues that matter most.

“He really wants to ingratiate himself in the community and use his financial knowledge to the benefit of a nonprofit, and we’re lucky that he was referred to us,” Love said. “He’s going to be a fabulous addition and a new source of information for the board.”