The Power of Connections
The uniform response when quizzing people on what exactly it is that givers Peter Sutherland the winning edge is that his unique mix of charisma and robustness has served him well over the years. Peter Sutherland was a key figure in negotiating the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and it has been well documented that in order to get the accord passed, he sometimes kept negotiators at the table late into the night. The deal came together after many years of negotiations, and the very gavel he used throughout now has a prominent place on his desk in London where he serves as chairman of the arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that oversees Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
It was back in the mid nineties when he rejoined Goldman Sachs, where where previously he had a position as an adviser. Eugene Fife then head of the firm’s London office recruited him after they met on a London-to-New York flight. Not only current but also former Goldman Sachs employees say Mr. Sutherland gave the bank a boost when it was trying to break into Europe.
It’s uniformly accepted that Peter was ideal for winning business away from some of London’s most illustrious and well established banks as well as European financial firms. He brought with him a stable of high-level contacts. Not only that but he is also known to be close to Italian Prime Minister Prodi. In more recent times he has been known to accompany former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson on trips to Russia and China before Paulson became treasury secretary last year. Not only this, he also helped forge a relationship between Goldman and Mittal Steel Co. That paid dividends when Mittal hired Goldman as lead banker in its $39 billion takeover of Arcelor SA last year. By all accounts Peter Sutherland has been instrumental in some keys bits of business which have had a massive impact on the development of Goldman.
