The Power of Connections
Everyone who has met Peter Sutherland would agree that his unique mix of great charm and directness has served him well over the course of his illustrious career. 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, it was not unusual for him to keep 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.
In 1995 he rejoined Goldman Sachs, where he had previously worked 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.
Peter was widely recognized as being key for winning business away from London’s big merchant banks as well as European financial firms. He brought with him a set of invaluable contacts. He is close to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. In more recent times he has been known to accompany former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson on trips to China and Russia before Paulson became treasury secretary last year. Not only this, he also played an important role in forging a relationship between Goldman and Mittal Steel Co. That paid off 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.
