Joe J. Plumeri

Joseph J. Plumeri II (born July 7, 1943) is vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors.

[7] During that time he held the roles of President and Managing Partner of Shearson Lehman Brothers, President of Smith Barney, Vice Chairman of Travelers, Chairman and CEO of Primerica, and CEO of Citibank, North America.

In addition, he funded the construction of Plumeri Park, the stadium of the William & Mary Tribe baseball team.

[9][10] A philanthropist, he has made multimillion-dollar gifts to The College of William & Mary and the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

"[16] Plumeri attended Trenton Catholic High School and Bordentown Military Institute (1962).

[9][20][21] Upon graduation, he first taught History for two years at Langhorne's Neshaminy High School in Bucks County, in Pennsylvania.

[3][14][17][23][24] Plumeri worked at Citigroup Inc. and its predecessors companies from 1968 until 2000, when he was appointed as Chairman and CEO of Willis.

While in law school, one afternoon in 1968 he decided to look for part-time employment, and began knocking on doors in the Wall Street area.

[23][25] Entering 55 Broad Street, he looked at the lobby directory and noticed the name Carter, Berlind & Weill.

[14] The small brokerage ultimately became Shearson, and Weill sold it to American Express in 1981 for stock valued at $930 million ($3,117,000,000 today).

[14][17][31] By 1985, Plumeri was a Senior Executive Vice President and director of national sales and marketing.

[29] Speaking of his approach in business, Plumeri said: I am an emotional person with a lot of drive, and that has caused some problems in my career.

[26][27] Plumeri assumed the post of Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Willis on October 15, 2000.

[15][16][43] "This is exactly the kind of leadership opportunity I've been looking for to focus the next stage of my career", Plumeri decided.

I'm supposed to be the chief cheerleader of the company, not only to investors but to my employees, and to exhort them to buy my stock, while I'm selling it, is wrong.

"[45] On arrival, Plumeri tried to unify the staff and create a sense of teamwork by providing each employee with a lapel pin and requiring them to wear it.

[15] The Sunday Times reported that once when Plumeri had a breakfast meeting with two of his executives at a New York hotel, he noticed that one was not wearing his Willis lapel pin.

[47] The CEO of the company's global markets division, Grahame J. Millwater, said: "The sheer dynamism of the individual took us a little bit by surprise.

[16]To avoid having to reduce the number of staff members that he had inherited, Plumeri chose to move some of them to what he viewed as better-suited roles.

[15][48] In June 2001, he brought the company back to public ownership in an IPO, and had it listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

[15] In 2008, Plumeri headed Willis' $2.1 billion acquisition of U.S. rival Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs Co.

"[12] On August 19, 2013, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP announced Plumeri's appointment as Senior Advisor.

[38][63][64][65] Now he serves on the boards of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Carnegie Hall, and the Churchill Centre and Museum at the Cabinet War Rooms in London.

[3] In December 2001, he opened a family restaurant named "Plumeri" in TriBeCa with his son Jay.

[20] In 2008, he provided $2 million to create the Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence at William & Mary.

[9] He donated $2 million to the construction of the "Samuel & Josephine Plumeri Wishing Place", the headquarters of the New Jersey Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation (named in honor of his parents).

[68] He also contributed $1 million to the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York, for the development of the school's new Christian Plumeri Sports Complex.

[3][7][79] He is a member of William & Mary's governing Board of Visitors, Business School Advisory Board, and Sir Robert Boyle Society, as well as a lifetime member of the President's Council and a trustee emeritus of the William & Mary Endowment Association.

[17] Speaking of his son Christian, who died in November 2008 at age 39 from drug addiction, he said: "You deal with it, but it's so difficult.

[25] His nephew Paul Plumeri Jr., is a graduate of Columbia University and Head of AI Responsibility Marketing at Google.

Willis Tower , Chicago