Jon Corzine Biography Quotes 13 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Jon S. Corzine was born on January 1, 1947, in Taylorville, Illinois. Raised in a small farming community, he developed an early appreciation for work and public service that would shape both his business career and his politics. He studied at the University of Illinois, earning an undergraduate degree in 1969, and completed an MBA at the University of Chicago in 1973. During this period he also served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, an experience he later cited for its emphasis on discipline, preparation, and teamwork.

Rise on Wall Street
Corzine joined Goldman Sachs in 1975, starting in the fixed-income division. He proved adept at bond markets during a period of intense financial innovation, and rose quickly, becoming a partner in 1980. Over the next decade and a half he helped steer the firm through market cycles and crises, earning a reputation for risk management and strategic vision. In 1994 he became the firm's senior partner, effectively its chief executive, and led Goldman Sachs during a pivotal stretch that included the Mexican peso crisis and preparations for a public offering. Colleagues including Henry M. Paulson Jr. and John Thornton were central figures in that era; together they managed a competitive partnership culture while positioning the firm for a changing regulatory and capital environment. In 1999 Goldman Sachs completed its long-debated IPO. Soon afterward, as leadership responsibilities shifted, Corzine left the firm, closing a chapter that had made him one of Wall Street's most prominent executives.

United States Senate
Turning to public service, Corzine ran for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey in 2000. He devoted significant personal resources to the campaign, arguing that his independence would allow him to take on entrenched interests. He won the seat long held by Frank Lautenberg, taking office in 2001. In the Senate, Corzine served on committees dealing with banking, finance, and economic policy, bringing his markets background to debates on corporate governance after high-profile scandals and on risk in complex derivatives. He pressed for transportation and security funds crucial to New Jersey's post-9/11 infrastructure. As chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2004 cycle, he worked closely with party leaders such as Harry Reid to recruit candidates and raise funds, underscoring his stature as both a policy voice and a party strategist. In New Jersey's delegation he partnered at various times with Robert Torricelli and, after 2002, with the returning Frank Lautenberg. When Corzine later moved to the governor's office, he appointed Robert Menendez to succeed him in the Senate, a decision that reshaped New Jersey's representation in Washington.

Governor of New Jersey
Elected governor in 2005, Corzine took office in January 2006 amid chronic structural deficits and rising property taxes. He brought to Trenton a management style honed on Wall Street and relied on a circle that included experienced New Jersey leaders such as Senate President Richard Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, as well as policy aides and budget experts drawn from government and the private sector. Early in his tenure he pursued a fiscal strategy to stabilize the state's balance sheet, including calls to rein in long-term obligations and a controversial "asset monetization" proposal to use higher tolls on major roadways to pay down debt. The plan met strong public resistance and was ultimately set aside, but it framed the broader budget conversation for the remainder of his term.

Corzine signed major legislation including paid family leave, making New Jersey an early adopter of expanded worker benefits, and a civil unions law following a directive from the state's Supreme Court, positioning the state on the national front edge of LGBTQ rights debates. He also worked on pension and health-benefit changes with legislative leaders as the Great Recession tore into state revenues. In April 2007 he suffered severe injuries in a high-speed car accident while traveling to a meeting related to the controversy surrounding radio host Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team. Not wearing a seatbelt at the time, he later apologized publicly and used his recovery to highlight seatbelt safety. In the difficult 2009 political climate, amid economic strain and voter frustration with taxes and fees, he lost his reelection bid to Chris Christie, closing his governorship in January 2010.

MF Global and After
Following his gubernatorial term, Corzine returned to finance as chairman and chief executive of MF Global in 2010, aiming to transform a midsize brokerage into a more profitable trading house. The firm expanded positions in European sovereign debt using a strategy that relied on short-dated funding structures. In late 2011, as eurozone fears spiked, MF Global collapsed into bankruptcy, and a shortfall in segregated customer funds emerged. Corzine appeared before multiple congressional committees, stating that he did not direct any misuse of customer money and that he did not know where the missing funds had gone. The episode prompted scrutiny from regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, led at the time by Gary Gensler, a former Goldman colleague who recused himself from certain matters. MF Global's failure became one of the most significant U.S. brokerage collapses since the financial crisis, and Corzine later settled civil charges with the CFTC, agreeing to pay a penalty and accept restrictions on his future activities in CFTC-regulated markets. In subsequent years he kept a lower profile, returning to investment management on a smaller scale while remaining a subject of debate for market participants and policymakers.

Personal Life and Relationships
Corzine's personal life occasionally intersected with his public roles. He was married for many years to Joanne Corzine, with whom he has children; they later divorced. His relationship with labor leader Carla Katz drew attention because of its overlap with state labor negotiations, prompting ethics and transparency questions even as he emphasized compliance with legal boundaries. In 2010 he married Sharon Elghanayan. Friends and associates from each phase of his career, on Wall Street, in the Senate, and in Trenton, shaped his perspective and opportunities, among them Henry Paulson, John Thornton, Richard Codey, Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez, Harry Reid, and adversaries and successors such as Chris Christie.

Legacy
Jon Corzine's trajectory combines high finance, elected office, and a late-career corporate failure that continues to color assessments of his judgment. Supporters credit him with bringing analytical rigor to public budgeting, advancing worker and family policies such as paid leave, and backing civil rights expansions in New Jersey. Critics fault the toll-road financing plan, the state's persistent fiscal strains during his tenure, and the risk decisions at MF Global. Few dispute his influence: he helped lead Goldman Sachs at a decisive moment, helped shape national politics as a U.S. senator and party strategist, and left a complex record as governor. The people around him, colleagues like Henry Paulson, legislative partners like Richard Codey, federal counterparts like Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, and political rivals like Chris Christie, illustrate the breadth of arenas in which he operated. His career remains a study in how financial expertise can both inform public policy and invite controversy when markets and government intersect.

Our collection contains 13 quotes who is written by Jon, under the main topics: Freedom - Parenting - Honesty & Integrity - Health - Equality.