John Thornton

John Thornton  link (Academic, businessman, financier)
Born	1954-01-02
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard College, Oxford University, Yale University
Became a Goldman Sachs partner at age 34. Barrick Gold Corporation, Bilderberg

John Thornton

Career

Thornton joined Goldman Sachs in 1980 and became a partner at age 34. In 1983, he founded and developed Goldman Sachs' European mergers and acquisitions business. He first began work in London in 1985, and was 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. He announced his retirement from Goldman Sachs in 2003 to take up an academic 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."

Thornton was on the boards of many large public companies including China Unicom, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Intel and News Corporation. He is currently Executive Chairman of Barrick Gold Corporation, a member of the board of Ford Motor Company and also serves as Non-Executive Chairman of Pinebridge Investments.

Deep political connections

He is also Chairman of the Board of trustees of the Brookings Institution.