[3][4][5][6] After an early career in photography, Mead relocated to London in 1988, where as a partner at Goldman Sachs,[7] he became known for overseeing and negotiating large telecommunications and technology mergers.
[7] At Harvard he majored in American history and literature,[15] also focusing on the visual arts under professors such as William Eggleston.
[15] At Goldman Sachs he soon took on the roles[7] of chairman of the global telecoms, media, entertainment and technology group[6] and the head of European Privatizations,[15] advising several major deals.
[9] From October 2006[3][6] until September 2008 Mead was a senior advisor[15] at Apax Partners, serving as chairman of the company's global technology and telecommunications advisory board.
[11] Among other projects, around this time he "used a complex photography technique to shoot a series of black and white photographs capturing rural New England" circular format.
[23] In 2012 the BBC Culture Show program profiled his work,[25] and Mead published the book Looking Back afterwards, featuring prints from his twenties.
The book, inspired by William Eggleston, features paired nature photographs, with text by Brad Leithauser.
[29] After Great Ormond Street Hospital in London cured his infant child of leukaemia, Mead became a long-term supporter[23] and board member of the institution.
[31] Mead has spearheaded a number of educational initiatives, and he backed and co-founded London's Notting Hill Preparatory school in 2003.
[38] Also on the global advisory council of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA),[21] he has also been a member of the trustees of Queens Club.
[38] Since 2011[15] he has been a trustee of the International Center of Photography in New York,[39] and he joined the rector's council of the University of the Arts London in 2012, and its court of governors in 2017.