Paul James Finnegan (born 1953) is a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based investor and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. In 1992, he co-founded

Madison Dearborn Partners Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts of privately held or publicly traded companies, or divisions of larger companies; recapitalizations of family-owned or closely held companies; ba ...

and currently serves as the firm's co-

CEO 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 ...

. From 2014 to 2023, served as the

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of the

Harvard Corporation The President and Fellows of Harvard College, also called the Harvard Corporation or just the Corporation, is the smaller and more powerful of Harvard University's two governing boards. It refers to itself as the oldest corporation in the Western ...

and the Chair of the Harvard Management Company.

Life

Finnegan was born and raised in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and attended

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

, graduating in 1971. He graduated from

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

in 1975, where he was a member of the College's ski team. He also attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Business career

In 1992, Finnegan co-founded

Madison Dearborn Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts of privately held or publicly traded companies, or divisions of larger companies; recapitalizations of family-owned or closely held companies; ba ...

. He has served as co-CEO since 2007, when fellow co-founder and then-CEO

John Canning Jr. John A. Canning Jr. is a private equity investor and sports executive. He is the founder and chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners, the large Chicago-based private equity firm. Career Canning was an early investor in private equity in the late ...

was looking to buy the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. Finnegan is also a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

at AIA Corporation,

CDW CDW Corporation is an American multi-brand provider of innovative information technology services, serving business, government, education, and healthcare sectors across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Headquartered in Vernon ...

, Government Sourcing Solutions LLC, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. He is a major donor in Illinois politics, having donated $100,000 to

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

's campaign for mayor in 2015 and another $200,000 to Emanuel's aborted run for mayor in 2019.

Philanthropy and non-profit work

Through the Finnegan Family Foundation, he has donated to causes in the areas of education, youth, health, and local

community. Finnegan has been a member of the

since 2012, and has served as it treasurer since replacing Jim Rothenberg in 2014. He was on the search committee that selected

Larry Bacow Lawrence Seldon Bacow (; born August 24, 1951) is an American economist and retired university administrator. Bacow served as the 12th president of Tufts University from 2001 to 2011 and as the 29th president of Harvard University from 2018 to 20 ...

as the 29th

President of Harvard University The president of Harvard University is the chief academic administration, administrator of Harvard University and the ''Ex officio member, ex officio'' president of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Corporation. Each is appoin ...

. Finnegan serves of the board of

Teach For America Teach For America (TFA) is an American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational excell ...

and a variety of

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

non-profits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finnegan, Paul Living people 1953 births People from Scituate, Massachusetts Businesspeople from Massachusetts Phillips Academy alumni Harvard College alumni American company founders American chief executives of financial services companies Madison Dearborn Partners American philanthropists Harvard Business School alumni JPMorgan Chase people