Robert Christopher "Bob" Gay (born September 1, 1951) has been a general authority of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) since 2012. He has been a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy since March 2018. Prior to becoming a general authority, Gay was the managing director, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Huntsman Gay Global Capital (HGGC), a private equity firm headquartered in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, with offices in Florida, Massachusetts, and Utah.

Early life and family

Gay was born in Los Angeles, California, to Frank William Gay, an American executive who oversaw several entities for

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

, and Mary Elizabeth Thain Gay. As a young man, Gay served as an LDS Church missionary in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He married Lynette Nielsen and they are the parents of seven children. He graduated with a degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Career

Gay was the managing director, co-founder, and CEO of HGGC. Under his leadership the company invested more than $1.1 billion. Prior to this, he was a managing director for sixteen years at

Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...

. Prior to working at Bain, Gay was an executive vice president of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

Credit Corporation Capital Markets Group, a vice president in the Merchant Banking Group at Kidder Peabody, and an engagement manager at the international consulting firm

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

. In 2001, Gay joined with Steve Young and Rich Lawson in co-founding Sorenson Capital. Later, with the founding of HGGC, Lawson and Young were key in setting up the company. In 2011, Gay was the commencement keynote speaker at

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah, United States. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July ...

Poverty relief work

Gay has been actively involved in poverty relief and humanitarian aid in developing countries, serving as a co-founder (primarily with his wife, Lynette) of the

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Center for Economic Self Reliance. Gay has been a major contributor to this center, now named the Melvin J. Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance. He has served on the board of trustees and as an advisor of the Forever Young Foundation, founded by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. He has also served as an advisory board member of Ascend Alliance, and is the founder of the Komart Foundation in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. Gay taught economics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for two years, where he also received a Ph.D. in business economics in 1982. He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

with an AB from the

. In 2001, Gay co-founded Unitus (renamed to Unitus Labs in 2011), a global micro-credit company. Unitus received the Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist award naming three times, which recognizes the top 45 social capital companies in the United States.

LDS Church service

In the late 1970s, Gay served on the high council of the Boston Stake, while Richard L. Bushman was stake president. This is where he first met Mitt Romney. From 2004 to 2007, Gay 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the church's

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Mission, with responsibilities including the oversight of missionary work in all parts of Ghana,

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. Gay was appointed an area seventy in April 2008. Gay also served previously as a counselor in a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. On March 31, 2012, he was called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. In September 2012, Gay was named as chairman of the

Perpetual Education Fund The Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) is a program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), first announced by church president Gordon B. Hinckley on March 31, 2001. The mission of the PEF, as stated in that address, is to pro ...

. During the church's April 2018 general conference, Gay was appointed to the Presidency of the Seventy. This assignment, along with that of Carl B. Cook, was the result of Gerrit W. Gong and

Ulisses Soares Ulisses Soares (born 2 October 1958) is a Brazilian religious leader and former businessman who serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church), Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint ...

being called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles In 2019, he toured India as part of an LDS Church delegation led by M. Russell Ballard."M. Russell Ballard visits church members in New Delhi"
'' ABC4'', 23 May 2019. Retrieved on 9 March 2020.

References

External links

General Authorities and General Officers: Elder Robert C. GayHuntsman Gay Global Capital
(company website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Robert C. Living people 1951 births Harvard University faculty American Mormon missionaries in Spain Mission presidents (LDS Church) Area seventies (LDS Church) American general authorities (LDS Church) Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church) Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Utah alumni American Mormon missionaries in Ghana 20th-century Mormon missionaries 21st-century Mormon missionaries American chief executives of financial services companies People from Palo Alto, California Mormon missionaries in Sierra Leone Mormon missionaries in Liberia Bain Capital people American expatriates in Sierra Leone American expatriates in Liberia American financial company founders General Electric people McKinsey & Company people Religious leaders from California Latter Day Saints from Massachusetts Latter Day Saints from California