Rye People: John Thain
Nothing symbolizes American capitalism better than the opening market bell of the New York Stock Exchange. The CEO of the 200 plus year old exchange is Rye’s own John Thain. Thain will celebrate his first year as CEO of the NYSE Group, the moniker taken when the exchange went public on March 8, 2006 after its $10 billion acquisition of rival Archipelago. He originally joined the non-profit New York Stock Exchange on January 15, 2004 from Goldman Sachs where he was president and COO.
Thain is part of a Goldman Sachs alumni group with notable positions in the public spotlight including Jon Corzine, Governor of New Jersey and Henry Paulson who succeeded John Snow as Secretary of the Treasury in July of last year. Thain made over $300 million at Goldman, according to Wikipedia.
Thain holds a bachelors in electrical engineering from MIT and a MBA from Harvard. At MIT he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity. According to the Federal Election Commission Database, he has made over $200,000 in political contributions.
Other Interesting Links:
Employer’s Profile (NYSE)
Federal Election Commission Database (search political contributions)
The photo below shows Thain (at left) with Secretary John Snow in 2004 at the NYSE.
