Scott Mead - Goldman Sachs

Scott Mead is an investment banker with nearly thirty years experience in the financial industry.

Mead received his Law Degree (JD) from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1982. He focused on International Law and held legal positions in Hong Kong, Beijing and New York. Prior to earning his Law Degree Mead completed his graduate studies at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University in 1979. He received an MPhil and was a member of the Cambridge Union Society which focused on Politics and Foreign Affairs. During this time he conducted on-site research in Africa. Scott Mead has a BA in American History and Literature from Harvard College where he graduated with Cum Laude honors. He was also awarded the Harvard Scholar to Cambridge University, an accolade bestowed upon only one student from the entire graduating class. It was also during this time when Scott Mead excelled in extracurricular activities such as sports and the arts. Mead was a member of the Varsity lacrosse and squash teams (three-time National Champions) and was a contributor to The Harvard Advocate, a University Literature and Arts Magazine.

Professional Background

Following graduation, Scott Mead began working at the First Boston Corporation from 1982 to 1986. Mead’s work focused primarily on Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Finance; he also gained experience working extensively in China and Japan. From First Boston Corporation, Mead went on to become Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Company and worked there from 1986 to 2003. At that point he also helped develop the Goldman Sachs conglomerate in Europe and headed both privatization and telecommunications development. As head of these departments at Goldman Sachs, he was involved in various financial transactions throughout the world including advising clients in Asia and Europe. Scott Mead was also part of the team that led what is known as the "largest business transaction ever in the telecommunications industry." With Mead's help, London telecommunications company, Vodafone acquired Germany's Mannesmann Group in 2000. The acquisition was worth over $100 billion. Later, Mead was the Senior Advisor and Chairman of Technology and Telecommunications Advisory Board at Apax Partners. His latest career move was in January of 2009 when Scott Mead Co-founded Richmond Park Partners, a merchant bank offering financial advisory to private individuals and companies.

Chairman, Trustee, Advisor  

In addition to his professional career, Scott Mead is involved with a wide spectrum of organizations. He is the Founder and Chairman of The Mead Foundation, a private organization which he founded in 1996 for the purpose of allocating grants and donations to support educational opportunities, medical research and the arts. Mead is also on the Executive Committee of the Tate Foundation in London, UK since October 2006 and contributes his financial and strategic knowledge in helping to oversee the Tate’s four museums located throughout the UK. From July 2004 to today, Scott Mead continues to serve on the Global Advisory Council for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

Scott Mead is a graduate of Harvard College, Class of 1977, and received the Harvard Scholarship to Cambridge University, awarded to only one student a year from the graduating class; he graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University in 1979. While an undergraduate at Harvard, he was a gifted and accomplished athlete in squash, lacrosse and tennis but due to an overlap in tennis and lacrosse, he competed in the tennis tournament circuit over the summer months. Mead’s commitment and participation with tennis continues, and he is actively involved as a ranked player and a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Women’s Tennis Association Tour, the international governing body of women’s professional tennis. Mead’s enthusiasm and love for tennis and Harvard College is apparent by the publication of the Scott Mead ’77 Family Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Tennis. This enables the men’s tennis head coaching position and helps fund one of the top tennis programs in America. Mead believes that this will encourage student participation at varsity, club and intramural levels by supporting a great team and coach. For Mead, tennis has been an important discipline, instilling in him competitive and moral values and an ability to strive to meet life’s challenges and opportunities. These lessons, which Mead gained from his coaches over the years have profoundly influenced his life, in a personal and professional capacity. By endowing the men’s tennis head coaching position, he hopes to enhance the Harvard experience for those as passionate about the game as he is.

Philanthropy & Endowments

Scott Mead is involved philanthropically with a variety of activities and initiatives. He is an avid photographer and recently held a one-man exhibition of his work at London’s Hamilton Gallery where all proceeds were donated to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Specifically, the funds raised from this event are meant to help establish a Gene and Cell Therapy Laboratory for children awaiting a Bone Marrow Transplant. In addition to periodic donations to various organizations, Mead has also created the Mead International Fellows Program offered at the University of Pennsylvania. The Fellows Program offers three fellowships annually to law students and is intended to help support the law students’ overseas work between their first and second years of study. Not forgetting his other Alma Mater, Harvard, Scott Mead also created the Scott Mead Family Head Coach for Men’s Tennis at Harvard, an endowment aimed at helping to support Harvard’s Men’s Tennis Team.

Scott Mead Links