Golden Man

Despite his grounding in business administration, Whitehead did not plan on being an investment banker when he was hired straight out of HBS by Goldman Sachs in 1947, where he shared an office with John L. Weinberg.

But over the course of 29 years, the two rose through the Goldman Sachs hierarchy together, while developing an enduring friendship. In 1976, when Goldman chair John Levy passed away unexpectadly, Weinberg and Whitehead were unconventionally appointed as co-chairs.

Whitehead is modest about his swift rise into the investment banking stratosphere, saying he would not have had the same success in today’s business world.

“Goldman had not hired any college graduates for years due to the depression and World War II,” Whitehead says. “For a young person starting in ’47 there was a clear track ahead. I don’t think I could have made it now.”

In his eight years as co-chair, Whitehead worked to internationalize Goldman, creating new offices overseas in Europe and Asia. He also fostered teamwork, while reprioritizing the interests of clients.

Whitehead also had a reputation for spearheading the drive for ethics on Wall Street.

He was instrumental in helping Goldman set up a corporate charitable foundation when the company went public. He also helped Goldman’s partners set up foundations.

“Not many people have his type of vision,” says Sara L. Engelhardt, president of the Foundation Center, an organization that tracks philanthropic activity. “He really understood the connection between corporate and private philanthropy.”

Whitehead’s code of ethics was exemplified in his rule that Goldman would not fund the hostile corporate takeovers that occurred frequently in the early 1980s.

While Whitehead realized that this rule may have jeopardized the short-term financial success of the firm, he felt that it would improve Goldman’s image, making it beneficial for business in the long run.

And the ethical and charitable thinking that Whitehead brought to Goldman extended into his post-retirement work.

In 1993, he endowed the Initiative on Social Enterprise (ISE), an umbrella for philanthropic activities at HBS with the goal of imbuing future leaders with a sense of personal responsibility to their community.

Social Enterprise classes are a required part of the curriculum in the MBA Program, and HBS is the only business school with such a social commitment.

“The School sees [ISE] as central to its mission of leadership development,” says Professor James E. Austin, chair of the HBS Initiative on Social Enterprise.