John L. Thornton

John Lawson Thornton
Born	1954 (age 69–70)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard College (B.A.) Oxford University (B.J., M.J.) Yale University (M.A.)

John Lawson Thornton (born January 2, 1954) is a Professor and Director of Global Leadership at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is former President of Goldman Sachs.

Early life and Education

Thornton is the son of John V. Thornton, a former vice chairman of the Consolidated Edison Company, and Edna Lawson Thornton, a lawyer. The New York Times described his background as "wealthy" and "well-connected," while the Independent would similarly describe it as "conventional New England Ivy League." He attended the exclusive Hotchkiss School, where he became friends with William Clay Ford, later Chief Executive of the Ford Motor Company and on whose board he would later serve Thornton would later serve as the President of the Board of Trustees of Hotchkiss, the school his children would also attend.

Thornton earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University. He received a bachelor's and master's degrees in Jurisprudence and later in 1980, an M.A. in Public and Private Management from Yale.

Career

Thornton joined Goldman Sachs in 1980 and became a Partner at age 34. In 1983, Thornton founded and developed Goldman Sachs' European mergers and acquisitions business. He first began work in London in 1985, and served as co-CEO of Goldman Sachs International in London from 1995 to 1996. Thornton was Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia from 1996 to 1998, where he expanded the firm's regional franchise during the Asian financial crisis. According to the Independent in 1999, "his only obvious black mark in a 20-year career is the British fashion retailer, Laura Ashley, whose affairs went from bad to worse under his chairmanship." He announced his retirement from Goldman Sachs in 2003 and transferred to his current position in China, although he would remain an adviser on issues related to China. According to the New York Times, Thornton's decision to retire "was prompted by a recognition that Mr. Paulson, who is 56, plans to remain Goldman's leader for at least three to five more years, delaying Mr. Thornton's expected promotion." At his retirement, he held $207 million in Goldman stock and his compensation over the previous four years totaled $40 million.

In 2003, Thornton came under controversy for his position on the Directorship of the Ford Motor Company, forcing Thornton to resign from the company's Audit company and the Chief Executive of Ford, Clay Ford Jr. to sell shares he had acquired in Goldman Sachs.

In 2014, Thornton was embroiled in a controversy over his compensation at Barrick Gold, in which his pay for 2013 was reduced to $9.5 million USD, down from $17 million the previous year. The original pay package had caused "a rare rejection last year by shareholders of the company’s executive compensation plan.", with 75% of the votes cast being in opposition to the compensation plans, a figure the Wall Street Journal attributed to company's poor performance.

Thornton serves on the boards of Barrick Gold, Intel, Pacific Century Group, Ford Motor Company, China Netcom. He is also Chairman of the Board of trustees of the Brookings Institution.

Interest in China

Thornton's interest in China stretches to the 1980s, where he helped build Goldman's presence in Asia. At the time of his retirement, Goldman had become the lead underwriter for major Chinese state-owned companies.

In 2006, Thornton funded the establishment of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. In 2009, he also became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.

He supported the launch of the Schwarzman Scholarship in 2013, attending its launch at Tsinghua University, and serving as an honorary board member. His son, John R. Thornton, was awarded one of the scholarships as part of the inaugural class in 2015.

Personal life

Thornton is married to Margaret Bradham Thornton. They have four children. While the family lives in Florida, he also owns an "$18 million...Georgian mansion on 118 acres in New Jersey's hunt country and maintains an antebellum rice plantation in Charleston, S.C.". In 2003, the New York Times described him as an active Democrat.

External links

• John L. Thornton bio at Intel