Thomas G. Labrecque served as a former

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 ...

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 ...

, and COO of

Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding ...

Life

Labrecque, the third child of eight, was born to Theodore J. Labrecque, a New Jersey Superior Court judge of

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

descent and Marjorie Labrecque. He attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and graduated in 1960 and later went to the pursue his graduate studies at the Kogod School of Business of

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

and the

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

. Before beginning his banking career he decided to join The United States Navy and serve four years, rising to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. During his service, Labrecque spent time serving on a destroyer at Guantanamo Bay in 1960, in the Mediterranean and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

during the building of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, and also during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

where he headed a section of the

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serv ...

, marshaling ships in the blockade off Cuba.

Career

In 1964, Labrecque entered the management training program at

and quickly made his way up. By 1976 he was appointed to Chase's management committee when he was only 38, making him ten years younger than any other member. During this stage point in the committee at the request of

David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American economist and investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Bank, Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of ...

(the Chief Executive during this period), Labrecque served to resolve the financial crisis at the time. 1981, Labrecque made it to president and COO of Chase Manhattan Bank. By 1990, Chase bank was suffering from defaults on loans to real estate developers and less-developed countries. To settle that, the board looked to Labrecque to solve the issue and named him CEO and Chairman of the bank. In turning around the bank he divested the company's underperforming businesses and boosted profits in core divisions such as credit cards, trust and custody, and mortgage banking. And in 1996 he orchestrated Chase Manhattan Bank's $11 billion merger deal with

Chemical Bank Chemical Bank, headquartered in New York City, was the principal operating subsidiary of Chemical Banking Corporation, a bank holding company. In 1996, it acquired Chase Bank, adopted the Chase name, and became the largest bank in the United Stat ...

. As part of the merger agreement, Labrecque agreed to relinquish his position to Chemical's Chairman and CEO, Walter V. Shipley and return to president and COO of the merged entities. During the rest of Labrecque's time, he was the key person from the bank who coped with Russia's loan default and he was also pivotal in negotiations to restructure the hedge fund,

Long-Term Capital Management Long-Term Capital Management L.P. (LTCM) was a highly leveraged hedge fund. In 1998, it received a $3.6 billion bailout from a group of 14 banks, in a deal brokered and put together by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. LTCM was founded in ...

. In June 1999 he had stepped down to retirement. Afterward, he served as the Chairman of Chase's International Advisory Council, a Director of

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

and

Delphi Automotive Systems Aptiv PLC is an Irish- American automotive technology supplier with headquarters in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Aptiv grew out of the now-defunct American company, Delphi Automotive Systems, which itself was formerly a component of General Moto ...

, and on the Board of Trustees of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. In September 2000, Labrecque was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

, though he did not smoke and was in good health prior. Only a month later in October, he died at

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...

. He was survived by his wife, Sheila; four children, Thomas Jr., Douglas, Karen Shea, and Barbara Corbin; five grandchildren; three brothers; and four sisters.

Other works

The J.P. Morgan Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Program, which annually offers 10 New York City students a full-tuition scholarship, four years of rotational internships, a mentoring network and professional assistance at any of 12 NYC universities and colleges, was originally created by Labrecque in 199

The Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation was founded by the Labrecque family in 2003 in memory of their lost beloved. As part of the foundation, the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic "Run as One" event was launched by family members and friends to raise awareness and donations to fund research for finding a cure for lung cancer, raising up to $10 million as of March 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labrecque, Thomas G. 1938 births 2000 deaths Kogod School of Business alumni Villanova University alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni JPMorgan Chase people Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) American chief executives of financial services companies American chief operating officers 20th-century American businesspeople People from Long Branch, New Jersey