Karen Cook (banker)

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Karen Cook
Born1952 or 1953 (age 70–71)[1]
London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materAlliance Manchester Business School
OccupationBanker
TitleChair of the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs
SpousePatrick Drayton
Children6

Karen Cook (born 1952/1953) is a British banker. She is also the chair of the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs.

Early life[edit]

Karen Cook was born and raised in London, the only child of a car mechanic father.[2]

Career[edit]

Cook started her career in the Foreign Office, but found it "too bureaucratic and slow".[2] She then earned an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School, and joined First National Bank of Chicago. She moved to Schroders in 1988.[2]

Cook joined Goldman Sachs in 1999, as head of UK investment banking, and became a partner in 2000.[2]

In 2004, she became a director of Tesco.[1]

In 2015, Cook became co-chair of Goldman Sachs' global investment banking division.[3]

Cook has been called the "Queen of M&A", having advised BG Group on its planned £47 billion takeover by Shell.[3]

Personal life[edit]

Cook is married to fellow banker Patrick Drayton, and they have six children.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Armitstead, Louise (12 September 2004). "Women take one step forward and one back". moloneysearch.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Turner, Nick Kostov and Matt. "Karen Cook: Goldman's queen of M&A". fnlondon.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b Hosking, Patrick (8 July 2015). "'Queen of M&A' set to spearhead investment at Goldman". Retrieved 9 August 2018 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.