Lewis Thompson Preston (August 5, 1926 – May 4, 1995) was an American banker. He was

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

from September 1991 until his death in May 1995.

Life and career

Born New York City, Preston was the son of Lewis T. and Priscilla Baldwin Preston. His father was a World War I flier and a well-known hunter. His grandfather was a partner in Standard Oil. Part of his youth was spent living in Paris. He served in the

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

during World War II in the Pacific and as an aide to Navy Secretary

James Forrestal James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic fami ...

who was a friend of his mother. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with a degree in history in 1951, and was at one point during his education the captain of Harvard's hockey team. He was chosen for the

United States men's national ice hockey team The United States men's national ice hockey team is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its USA Hockey National Team Development Program, U18 and U17 development program in Plymouth, Michigan, Plymouth, Michiga ...

, but never ended up competing in the Olympics. Preston worked at J.P. Morgan & Co. and its subsidiary

Morgan Guaranty Trust Company J.P. Morgan & Co. is a commercial and investment banking institution founded by J. P. Morgan in 1871. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company is now a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest banking institutions in t ...

for forty years. His first major contribution to the company was in the mid 1960s when he convinced the company to use trade in the newly formed Eurodollar market as source of liquidity; a move which greatly improved the prosperity of the company. In 1968 he was appointed vice president in charge of international banking, and under his tenure over half of the company's earnings came from the international banking sector in the 1970s. After eight years in that position he became vice chairman of the board of directors in 1976, and then president of the board in 1978. In 1980 Preston was appointed CEO of J.P. Morgan & Co. He helped the company weather the storm of Silver Thursday in 1980 which had a wide negative impact on the banking industry. In 1984 he assisted in the bailout of

Continental Illinois The Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company was at one time the seventh-largest commercial bank in the United States as measured by deposits, with approximately $40 billion in assets. In 1984, Continental Illinois became the largest ...

when it was seized by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cr ...

. He retired as CEO in February 1991. From September 1991 until his death in Washington D.C. on May 4, 1995 he was

of the

Personal life

He was the second husband of

Patsy Pulitzer Gladys "Patsy" Pulitzer Preston (May 31, 1928 – October 28, 2011) was an American fashion model, socialite and philanthropist. The granddaughter of Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper publisher and founder of the Pulitzer Prize, she grew up in Palm Beach ...

References

External links

Biography of Lewis Thompson Preston (website)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Lewis Thompson 1926 births 1995 deaths 1990s economic history 20th-century American businesspeople American bankers Harvard University alumni Businesspeople from New York City Presidents of the World Bank Group American chief executives of financial services companies JPMorgan Chase people