Gordon S. Macklin (1928 - January 30, 2007) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

businessman. He was the first President and CEO of the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

from 1971 to 1987. He was also a board member of

WorldCom MCI, Inc. (formerly WorldCom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second-largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. WorldCom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunicatio ...

from 1998 to its collapse in 2002. Macklin was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

and raised in

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cockta ...

. He graduated with a BA in economics from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

in 1950, and returned to Cleveland to work for McDonald & Company Securities, where he later became a partner. He was elected president of the

National Association of Securities Dealers The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

(NASD) in 1970, remaining in office until 1987. He was chairman of the National Clearing Corp from 1970 to 1975, and president of NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock market, from 1975 to 1987. He became chairman of

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 ...

Hambrecht & Quist Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q) was an investment bank based in San Francisco, California noted for its focus on the technology and Internet sectors. H&Q was founded by Bill Hambrecht and George Quist in California, in 1968. H&Q was an early player i ...

, based in

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, in 1987, and then chaired the

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm

White River Corporation White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wavelen ...

from 1992 until it was sold to Harvard Private Group in 1998. He then joined the board of

as an independent director. Along with his fellow directors, he took little action to prevent the massive

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...

fraud which led to the company's

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 2002, costing investors and employees billions of dollars. In 2001, the board discussed accountancy concerns five times, but their compensation and share options eleven times. In 2005, he joined nine former WorldCom directors in paying back $18 million as compensation for investor losses, thought to be less than 20% of the personal net assets of the 10 directors. He joined the board of online retailer

Overstock.com Beyond, Inc. (formerly known as Overstock, Inc.) is an American internet retailer, online retailer that owns the "Bed Bath & Beyond" brand except for within Mexico and the "Overstock" brand, and runs online stores named with those brands. The M ...

in 1999 and was also a director of the biotechnology company

MedImmune MedImmune, LLC was a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca before February 14, 2019, when it was announced that the MedImmune name and branding would be discontinued in favor of AstraZeneca. MedImmune was founded in 1988 as Molecular Vaccines, ...

, and the

White Mountains Insurance Group White Mountains Insurance Group is a diversified insurance and related financial services holding company based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Redomiciled from Delaware, United States, on October 25, 1999, the company conducts most of its business throu ...

. He was a director, trustee or managing general partner various companies in the

Franklin Templeton Franklin Resources, Inc. is an American multinational investment management holding company that, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as Franklin Templeton; it is a global investment firm founded in New York City in 1947 as Franklin ...

group. He was also co-chairman of the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute. Macklin was predeceased by his wife, Marilyn and survived by two sons and two daughters. His nephew, Donald Dawn, currently manages his foundation, the Gordon and Marilyn Macklin Foundation. He died following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

, aged 78.

References

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'', February 2, 2007
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, '' Honorary Unsubscribe '', January 28, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Macklin, Gordon 1928 births 2007 deaths Brown University alumni Businesspeople from Cleveland People from Shaker Heights, Ohio 20th-century American businesspeople