The Difference the Right Contacts Can Make
The uniform response when quizzing people on what exactly it is that givers Peter Sutherland the winning edge is 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 into the small hours of the night. The deal came together after seven years of negotiations, and the very gavel he used throughout now sits on his desk at his office 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 he had previously worked as an adviser. The story goes that he was recruited by Eugene Fife on an international flight. Not only current but also former Goldman Sachs employees say Mr. Sutherland gave the bank a lift when it was trying to break into Europe.
It’s uniformly accepted that Peter was ideal for winning business away from London’s big merchant banks as well as European financial firms. He brought with him a stable of high-level contacts. He is close to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. More recently 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 helped forge 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.
