Douglas Warner | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1946-06-09)June 9, 1946 (age 79) Cincinnati, Ohio  |
| Occupation | Banker |
Douglas 'Sandy' Warner (born June 9, 1946, asDouglas Alexander Warner III but widely known as "Sandy") is an Americanbanker who joinedMorgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York out of college in 1968 as an officer's assistant and rose through the ranks to becomechief executive officer andchairman of the board ofJ.P. Morgan & Co. Inc. in 1995. Among his many accomplishments, Warner may be best known for spearheading the 2000 sale of J P Morgan & Co. toChase Manhattan Bank for $30.9 billion.
Douglas Alexander Warner III was born on June 9, 1946, inCincinnati, Ohio, as the elder son to Douglas Alexander Warner Jr. and Eleanor (Wright) W. Warner. He has a brother, Gordon, and a sister, Marjorie.[1] Warner came from money, growing up in the high-toned suburb ofIndian Hill in a family with local social standing. For example, Warner's father served as a trustee of theCincinnati Music Hall Association andArt Museum and chaired the United Appeal one year. Warner's grandfather (and namesake) ran his own insurance firm and was active in local golfing circles. Grandmother Warner was the daughter of a wealthy Cincinnatientrepreneur namedJ. Stacey Hill, who was the president of a then-prominent thousand-room Cincinnati hotel namedHotel Gibson.[2]
In 1960 Warner's family shipped the 14-year-old Warner 500 miles away from his home in Ohio toThe Hill School, a college-preparatory boarding school inPottstown, Pennsylvania (it admitted only boys at the time); Warner's father had graduated from the same school in 1937.[3] While a student at The Hill, Warner played juniorhockey 1960–61, junior varsity (JV) hockey 1961–62, and varsity hockey 1962–64.[3] Warner graduated from there in 1964, the same year asAcademy Award-winning producer/directorOliver Stone.
From The Hill School, Warner applied toYale University, the same school attended by his father and uncle.[2] In 1964, Warner enteredYale University at the age of 18 as apre-med student.[4] At age 18, Warner was ofdraft age but most likely held a 2-S (college deferment)Selective Service System classification as a student at Yale University. During his time at Yale, Warner became friends with the futurePresident George W. Bush through then-Yale ice hockey playerRoland W. Betts - now owner of the multimillion-dollarChelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex.[5][6] This friendship would prove valuable asPresident-elect Bush later named Warner as a financial adviser to his transition team in 2000.[5][7]
At the peak of theVietnam War upheaval in the United States in May 1968, Warner graduated fromYale University with aB.A. degree and intended to go toYale medical school after leaving Yale undergraduate. Without a college deferment, Warner most likely would have been classified as1-A, that is to say, classified as available immediately for military service. For example,President Bush was classified as 1-A on Bush's graduation from Yale in May 1968 and was accepted into theTexas Air National Guard at the height of the ongoingVietnam War.
With the Vietnam war and Yale medical school choices facing Warner, Warner looked to a third option based on advice from his father, an insurance man fromCincinnati, Ohio. Warner's father advised Warner to go into business to develop some "breadth"[8] and subsequently Warner entered the management training program atMorgan Guaranty Trust Company inNew York City.[9] At that time, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company was a wholly owned subsidiary ofJ.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (formerlyJ.P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated). Over the next seven years, Warner rapidly advanced from officer's assistant (1968–1970), through assistant treasurer (1970–1972) and assistant vice president (1972–1975), to vice president in 1975.[1]
On May 13, 1977, Warner marriedPatricia G. Grant with whom he had four children, Alexander, Katherine, Michael, and Alice (deceased), and now, along with Patricia's brother Thomas, are residents ofLocust Valley, N.Y.[10][11]
In 1983, at age 37, Warner was transferred toLondon,England and was named senior vice president.[12] First, Warner was in charge ofUnited Kingdom andScandinavian banking operations and then became the head of oil and gas lending for the region.[8] In becoming the general manager of the London office and Morgan's senior executive in theUnited Kingdom in 1986, Warner received extensive experience in U.S. andinternational corporate finance.[1]
In 1987, Warner was promoted to executive vice president and returned to New York city to take charge ofNorth American andSouth Americancorporate finance and, later that year, of the entire group worldwide.[1][13]
In 1989, Warner became managing director of the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company and elected president and a director in 1990.[14] After rising through the ranks in various positions inLondon andNew York City, Warner succeededDennis Weatherstone in 1995 as Morgan's youngestCEO ever at age 49.[4][13] From 1995 to 2000, Warner served as chairman and chief executive officer. In 1999, Warner was ranked 14th of the "25 Highest Paid Banking Executives in 1999" with a total compensation for the year of US$9,916,151.[15] In 2000, Warner was mentioned as a possible candidate for President Bush's Treasury secretary along withEnron headKenneth Lay and a few others.[16] However, Warner was elevated to chairman of the board ofJ.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,Chase Manhattan Bank andMorgan Guaranty Trust Company ofNew York, NY in 2000 and served there until his retirement on September 7, 2001.[14] Instead, Bush named Warner as a financial adviser to his presidential transition team in 2000.[5]
Warner may be best known for spearheading the sale of J P Morgan & Co. toChase Manhattan Bank through its thenCEOWilliam Harrison for $30.9 billion.[17]
In retirement, Warner is a director ofAnheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. andMotorola, Inc., a member of the board of counselors ofThe Bechtel Group, Inc., chairman of the board of managers and the board of overseers ofMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, served as the chair of theGeneral Electric audit committee, and served on both the General Electric nominating committee and corporate governance and management development and compensation committee.[14] In 2016 Warner was removed from his 24-year position on GE's board by CEOJeff Immelt after the two disagreed about Immelt's succession plans. Warner appealed this move, but the board declined to bring him back.[18] Warner is a member of theBusiness Council, a trustee of thePierpont Morgan Library, and a member of the committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (CECP).[19] In between such retirement, Warner enjoys golf, skiing, and shooting as a member of Seminole Golf ClubSeminole Golf Club, Links Club,River Club,Meadowbrook Club (Long Island, New York),Augusta National Golf Club, andWequetonsing Golf Club(Harbor Springs, MI).[1][20]
Warner was recently selected for a coveted six-year term on theYale Corporation,Yale University’s governing body.
Analysts say that Mr. Warner was a key figure throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the transformation of J.P. Morgan from a commercial bank to an investment banking firm. For example, J.P. Morgan was the first commercial bank since the 1930s to be granted the power tounderwritedebt andequity securities. Under Warner, the firm ended lifelong job security as a result of a 1998 restructuring. One of his biggest cultural marks on J.P. Morgan was the creation of the "House Arrest" group, a dozen or so senior executives who met monthly to discuss management issues.[4]
In 1998, Warner was an invitedGordon Grand Fellow lecturer atYale University,[9] and in 2001, he was awarded the Leadership Award from The Hill School. As an alumnus of The Hill School, Warner had proven himself "to be an exemplary leader and true role model for students in his vocation."[22]
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| Preceded by | Chairman ofJ.P. Morgan & Co. 1995—2000 | Succeeded by William Harrison (as Chairman ofJPMorgan Chase) |
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