He attended Rutgers University, where he graduated with a mathematics degree, and then worked as an actuarial assistant for Travelers Insurance Company.
[2] After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Byrne worked as a reinsurance salesman for Lincoln National Life Insurance.
He then moved to Travelers and was eventually promoted to executive vice president in charge of life insurance operations.
[2] After being passed over for president at Travelers in 1975, Byrne quit to become chief executive of GEICO, then a troubled Washington, D.C., auto insurer.
In August 2008, Jack Byrne said that after "much initial skepticism" he believed his son was "right all along" about the battle and lawsuits with short-sellers and analysts.