William Thomas Winters,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born September 1961) is an American banker who is the chief executive (CEO) of

Standard Chartered Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in th ...

, and was formerly co-head of

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...

's investment bank.

Early life

William Thomas Winters was born in September 1961, in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, followed by an MBA from the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He has dual American and British nationality.

Career

JP Morgan

Winters joined the

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 ...

graduate trainee scheme because he was too poor to pursue his interest in international diplomacy. He was key in JP Morgan's development of credit derivatives markets. He was appointed co-head of JP Morgan's investment bank along with Steve Black in 2004; Winters was based in London while Black's office was in New York City. Winters earned much credit for helping the investment bank avoid "structured products and off-balance sheet vehicles that crippled global markets because they didn't make financial sense", as well as his leadership in the acquisition of ailing rival investment bank

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 March 2008. Winters was also "instrumental" in JPMorgan's joint venture with and later purchase of Cazenove. However, Winters was ousted from his position in 2009 amid reports that he wanted to succeed the CEO

Jamie Dimon James Dimon ( ; born March 13, 1956) is an American businessman who has been the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase since 2006. Dimon began his career as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. After earnin ...

. Black was replaced by Jes Staley who was named the new CEO of the investment bank, although Black stayed on as chairman of that unit until his retirement in 2011.

Renshaw Bay

In February 2011, Winters founded the hedge fund Renshaw Bay. He put up half the money, with investors Jacob Rothschild and

Johann Rupert Johann Peter Rupert (born 1 June 1950) is a South African billionaire Businessperson, businessman, who is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. He is the Chair (officer), chairman of the Swiss-based luxury goods c ...

putting up the balance.

Standard Chartered

In February 2015, it was announced that Winters would replace Peter Sands as CEO of

in June 2015. Since he joined Standard Chartered, the share price has fallen, as has that of peer

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

. Standard Chartered's executive pensions attracted some investor criticism in 2019, and some 36% of votes cast at StanChart's annual shareholder meeting in London were against its 2019 directors' remuneration report. In September 2022, Winters said Hong Kong is "open" and would attend the November 2022 Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit in the city, despite quarantine measures for inbound travelers. Winters is scheduled to speak at the Summit, with the Hong Kong Democracy Council claiming that his presence, along with other financial executives, legitimizes the Hong Kong government's whitewashing of the erosion of freedoms in the city. Several members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

also warned that US financial executives should not attend the Summit, saying "Their presence only serves to legitimise the swift dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy, free press and the rule of law by Hong Kong authorities acting along with the Chinese Communist Party." Winters had earlier said in September 2022 that Hong Kong is "open". However, in a November 2022 interview, Winters, after the Summit, said of the current restrictions "I think you should scrap the whole thing. No tests on arrival, no tests on departure, and then just ask people to be responsible." He also said that testing is an issue because business travelers risk getting stuck in Hong Kong for around a week if they test positive.

Other activities

Winters was one of the commissioners of the UK Independent Commission on Banking after the 2008 financial crisis. Winters participated in a charity video entitled "Life's a Pitch" alongside other senior financial managers, which was shown at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

theatre in London in 2013 and raised £250,000. In 2020 Winters co-founded, with

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

, the Task Force on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, an initiative to increase trading of voluntary carbon offsets.

Recognition

Winters received a

in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to the Economy and UK Financial Services Industry.United Kingdom:

Personal life

Winters wife, Anda, is CEO and creative director of the Coronet Theatre, London. They have children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Bill 1961 births Living people American bankers American chief executives of financial services companies Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Standard Chartered people Businesspeople from Connecticut Colgate University alumni Wharton School alumni JPMorgan Chase people