AN EXECUTIVE WITH PROGRESSIVE VALUES



Jon Corzine was born and raised on a small, 120-acre family farm outside Willey’s Station, Illinois – population, 40. His father – an Army veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge – was a grain farmer. To supplement his modest earnings, he sold insurance on the side. His mother, Nancy, taught elementary school for thirty years. Looking back on his childhood, Corzine remembers rising early each morning to tend to his chores before heading off to school. “I worked my tail off,” he explains. “It wasn’t easy, but I’m grateful for the experience. My parents taught me the value of hard work.”

Corzine attended Taylorville High School, where he was the captain of his basketball team. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana, where he also played basketball. “I was a walk-on in college,” he remembers. “They gave me some minutes on the freshman squad, but my varsity career was at the far end of the bench. There’s wasn’t much need for a 6’2” forward at a Big Ten school.”

Because his parents couldn’t afford to pay his tuition, Corzine worked during college summers as a laborer, and nights at the local post office. A card-carrying member of LIUNA, he shoveled concrete on highway projects and helped build grain elevators and a power plant in a neighboring county. These experiences instilled in him a lifelong respect for the men and women of organized labor. “It’s one thing to be on the long end of a shovel at age 17,” says Corzine. “It’s another thing to do that kind of work when you’re 60 The union helped my coworkers secure a pension, health care and a living wage. It helped them realize the American dream. It’s a lesson I will always appreciate.” 

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After graduating from college, Corzine enlisted in the Marine Reserve Corps, where he served for six years and attained the rank of sergeant. While attending night school at the University of Chicago, where he earned an MBA, he worked in the back office at a bank. After a brief stint with another bank in Columbus, Ohio, Corzine accepted a job as a junior bond trader with Goldman Sachs. He moved to New Jersey – first to Berkeley Heights, and then to Summit – where he raised his three children: Jenny, Josh and Jeffrey.

When he wasn’t catching the 5:35 AM train from Summit to New York (by way of Hoboken), Corzine threw himself into civic life. An active parishioner at a local church, he also coached his sons’ soccer teams and served as president of the local hockey and tennis club. “I’ve been truly blessed,” he said. “I’m an ordinary guy who’s been fortunate to lead an extraordinary life.”

Corzine took the helm of Goldman Sachs during a difficult period in which the firm had experienced significant losses. Through a series of tough calls, strategic initiatives, risk diversification, and long-term planning, Corzine reestablished Goldman as the leader in investment banking, ultimately taking the company public and creating substantial value for shareholders and employees. As Chairman and CEO, Corzine initiated a landmark Community Teamwork Project under which every department at Goldman sponsored public service projects. He also used proceeds from the firm’s public offering to establish a philanthropic foundation and insisted that every long-term Goldman employee receive shares in the company.

In recognition of his progressive business practices, President Bill Clinton named Corzine as chairman of a presidential commission studying ways to increase federal investment in schools, infrastructure and technology.

Though it’s been over fifteen years since he ran the New York Marathon, Corzine still jogs several miles most days and is a fixture at his local gym in Hoboken. He enjoys spending time with his three grandchildren – Emma, Dylan, and Will – and with his partner, Sharon Elghanayan. A graduate of Weequahic High School and Rutgers University-Newark, Sharon is a clinical therapist and active in Jewish philanthropy. She and the governor share a passion for skiing and have agreed to disagree about who is more skilled on the slopes.