John J. Mack (born November 17, 1944) is a senior advisor to the

investment firm An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under th ...

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

and the former CEO and chairman of the board at

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

–based

investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

and

brokerage A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neith ...

firm.

Early life and education

Mack was born in

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 census, making it the most populo ...

, the son of Alice (née Azouri) and Charles Mack. Mack's father's original family name was Makhoul; he came to the United States from

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

when he was 12 years old, following Mack's grandfather, who had arrived at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

in 1909. The family settled in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Mack's father ran a wholesale grocery, clothing, and general merchandise store called John Mack & Son in

. The business occupied The John Mack Building from 1937 to the 1990s. Mack is the youngest of six sons. The family was Catholic. In 1968, Mack graduated from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, where he attended on a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

scholarship and majored in history. Mack's first job in finance was as a clerk at a small brokerage house during his junior year at Duke, after a cracked vertebra made it impossible for him to continue on his football scholarship.

Career

Morgan Stanley

Mack worked at several firms around Wall Street before starting his career at Morgan Stanley in 1972 as a salesman, and has since worked for the company for nearly thirty years. Rising steadily to positions of increasing responsibility, Mack eventually headed the firm's Worldwide Taxable Fixed Income Division from 1985 to 1992. In 1987, he became a member of the board of directors. In March 1992, he assumed responsibility for Morgan Stanley's day-to-day operations as chairman of the operating committee. He was named president of Morgan Stanley in June 1993. Mack served as president, chief operating officer and a director of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. from May 1997 when the firm was created by the merger of Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter, two of the world's leading financial services companies. In 2001, Mack left Morgan Stanley after a power struggle with Phil Purcell; Purcell became CEO of Morgan Stanley after the 1997 merger of Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter, of which Purcell was already CEO.

Credit Suisse

Six months later, in June 2001, Mack was hired as CEO of

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

, then known as

Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) was the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York. The company was created by the merger of First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse Group in 1 ...

(CSFB). Mack's time at Credit Suisse was marked by much restructuring and by compliances issues created by

Frank Quattrone Frank Quattrone (born 1955) is an American technology investment banker who started technology sector franchises at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse First Boston. He helped bring dozens of technology companies public during the 1 ...

's Technology Group.

Morgan Stanley redux

On June 30, 2005, Mack returned to Morgan Stanley as chief executive officer and chairman of the board, replacing Purcell. Mack was noted for stabilizing the firm and reenergizing its culture and client franchise, despite an economic downturn. Mack announced his retirement as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

on September 10, 2009, which was effective January 1, 2010. In 2011, Mack retired from Morgan Stanley after more than 30 years as an investment banker. Former co-president James P. Gorman succeeded him as CEO.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

In 2012, Mack joined

as a senior advisor.

Rosneft

In 2013 Mack joined

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and pet ...

, the Russian, state-owned, oil company that has BP as an investor of approximately 20%. In 2014 he announced his departure, shortly after the CEO

Igor Sechin Igor Ivanovich Sechin (; born 7 September 1960) is a Russian entrepreneur and a government official, considered a close ally and "de facto deputy" of Vladimir Putin. Sechin has been a confidant of Russian leader Vladimir Putin since the early ...

had sanctions imposed upon him by the US. Different reasons were given for his departure; Mack said his contract had only been for a year, while Rosneft spokespeople said he had decided to leave for personal reasons.

Insider trading accusations

In 2006, Mack was accused by former SEC investigator Gary J. Aguirre of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

. On October 5, 2006, the SEC recommended no action be taken against Mack. In late November 2006, Mack and Pequot were notified that the investigation had been closed and no action would be taken against them.

Compensation

While CEO of Morgan Stanley in 2006, Mack earned a total compensation of $41,399,010, which included a base salary of $800,000, stocks granted of $36,179,923, and options granted of $4,019,934. In 2008, he earned a total compensation of $1,235,097, which included a base salary of $800,000 and other compensation of $435,097. He did not receive any cash, stock, or options. In 2014, Mack defended the high fees paid to CEOs, saying on

Bloomberg Television Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by diversified information and media private company Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, re ...

that the discussion of compensation was healthy, but that CEOs earn the rates.

2008 financial crisis

Mack guided the firm through the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, building its capital position and overseeing the firm's conversion to a bank holding company. To stabilize the firm, he forged strategic alliances with China Investment Corporation and Mitsubishi UFJ Group and entered into a joint venture with Smith Barney, forming at the time the world's largest wealth management firm. During the crisis, Mack was advised by U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and the head of the Federal Reserve Bank

Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke ( ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Federal Reserve, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Insti ...

to sell Morgan Stanley. He has stated that during negotiations he was under considerable pressure from the president of the New York Federal Reserve, Tim Geithner, to sell or merge Morgan Stanley to one of his competitors such as

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...

. Mack saw this as being contrary to the interests of Morgan Stanley shareholders and employees, similar to the demise of

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

in a forced sale to JP Morgan for $2 per share, (the deal was later revised to $10 a share), and insisted on finding other sources of financing instead.

Board memberships

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospit ...

: Chairman Emeriti, Board of Trustees – Joined 1992 *

: board of trustees * University Hospital of Columbia University: board member * University Hospital of Cornell University: board member *

IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image. img or IMG may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics *IMG (file format), file that stores a complete and uncompressed copy of the contents of a storage device * IMG, a prefix for camera ima ...

: director * Bloomberg Family Foundation: board member * Business Council: member * Business Roundtable: member *

China Investment Corporation China Investment Corporation (CIC) is a sovereign wealth fund that manages part of China's foreign exchange reserves. China's largest sovereign fund, CIC was established in 2007 with about US$200 billion of assets under management. In Mar ...

: International Advisory Council * Mayor of

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

: International Business Leaders Advisory Council *

Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...

: international advisory panel *

Partnership for New York City The Partnership for New York City, formerly called the New York City Partnership, is a nonprofit membership organization consisting of a select group of nearly three hundred CEOs ("Partners") from New York City's top corporate, investment and ent ...

: executive committee, director * November 2011: Rev Worldwide: board of directors * 2012: LendingClub: board member

Philanthropy

Mack has donated to various entities through the Christy and John Mack Foundation, formerly known as C.J. Mack Foundation: * 1999:

: $10 million to support various initiatives * 2004:

: $10 million to support integrative medicine * 2005: United States Naval Academy Foundation: Endowment to support the Admiral Frank Bowmanbr>Scholar Program
* 2007:

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

: $5 million to support academic scholarships to this historically black college Mack has sat on the board of trustees of

NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospi ...

since 1992. He was chairman of the board for 5 years and was integral to the funding and construction of NYP Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, the only stand-alone children's hospital in New York City.

In media

Mack earned the nickname "Mack the Knife" for his cost-cutting prowess while managing the fixed income division at Morgan Stanley, and he lived up to his billing at CSFB, where he cut 10,000 jobs and returned the bank to profitability. Mack was portrayed in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

film ''

Too Big to Fail "Too big to fail" (TBTF) is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected with an economy that their failure would be disastrous to the greater e ...

'' by

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; ; born October 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for a variety of roles ranging from comedic to dramatic on stage and screen. He has received several accolades including five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, s ...

and in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

film '' The Last Days of Lehman Brothers'' by

Henry Goodman Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre. Early life He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Lo ...

. His career is also covered in detail in a 2007 book by Patricia Beard, '' Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley''. The 2010 documentary ''Plunder: The Crime of Our Time'' by Danny Schechter opens with a demonstration outside his home by people who lost their houses in the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. Mack's personal memoire and career retrospective, "Up Close and All in: Life Lessons from a Wall Street Warrior," was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2022.

Selected interviews

* Mack, John.
Wharton Leadership Lecture: John Mack on Saving Morgan Stanley, Inside the Bunker.
''Knowledge at Wharton.'' University of Pennsylvania. October 14, 2009. * Mack, John and Hank Paulson.
Mack, Paulson full interview.
''CNN Money.'' NYU Stern School of Business. March 2010. * Rose, Charlie.
Zhou Wenzhong; John Mack, Chairman, Morgan Stanley; Kenneth Roth on Human Rights in China; An appreciation of Reynolds Price.
''

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show ''Charlie Rose (talk show), Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg L.P., Bloombe ...

.'' January 20, 2011. Interview starts at 25:30.

Personal life

Mack is married to Christy Mack (née King). Mr. and Mrs. Mack reside in New York City. They have three children.