John L. Thornton

Thornton, along side Secretary of Commerce, Steve Mnuchin, and US Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, served as one of the architects of Phase I of the US-China trade deal. He has been involved in US-China negotiations for several years, briefing top Chinese and US officials in an effort to bring the two sides to an agreement. These efforts yielded a positive outcome when on January 15, 2020, the United States and China agreed to sign the first phase of a trade agreement. In comments delivered by President Donald Trump on the grounds of the White House, Thornton was recognized for his role in bringing about the agreement. Thanking Thornton during his speech to an audience of the top business and political leaders in the US, Trump said, "And John Thornton. [..] John is great. Good job, John. (Applause.) Thank you for all the help, too. Great job, John."

In February 2019, Barrick Gold announced a hostile $19 billion bid to acquire Newmont Mining Corporation, an American company based in Denver, Colorado. Newmont’s board unanimously rejected the offer, describing Barrick’s “egocentric proposal” as “designed to transfer value from Newmont shareholders to Barrick’s”. Newmont CEO Gary Goldberg said, “[O]ne of the major factors that hindered Barrick’s ability to create value in the past remains the same… John Thornton is still firmly in control.” But soon thereafter, Newmont appeared to reverse this position as they agreed to enter into a joint venture with Barrick in Nevada.

On September 24, 2018, Barrick Gold announced plans to acquire London-listed Randgold Resources in a transformational deal valued at more than $6.5 billion. The merger solidified Barrick's position as one of the world's largest gold mining companies, with proven and probable reserves of 78 million ounces of gold and dominant land positions in many of the world's major gold producing regions. Thornton was the driving force behind the all-stock, nil-premium merger, which earned the support of more than 95% of the shareholders of both companies. In the month following the announcement of the merger, shares of Barrick and Randgold rose by roughly 25%, reflecting widespread investor support for the deal.

In September 2017, Thornton helped arrange a meeting between Steve Bannon and Wang Qishan, Thornton’s friend and former head of the China Construction Bank and the current Vice President of the People’s Republic of China, at the Communist Party’s Zhognanhai headquarters a few weeks after Bannon was forced out of his advisory role in President Donald Trump’s administration. Bannon, also a former Goldman employee, has described Thornton as a friend and "mentor".

Thornton appeared on the National Post's 2017 Power List of the most influential people shaping Canadian business. The newspaper noted Thornton has "overseen a massive overhaul at Toronto-based Barrick" following which the company "has shed billions of dollars of debt and generated excellent financial results."

Thornton was appointed to the board of Barrick Gold in November, 2013 and became Executive Chairman of Barrick Gold in 2014. In May 2017, the government of Tanzania accused Acacia Mining, a subsidiary of Barrick Gold, of “underreporting its gold exports by a factor of ten”. The investigation revealed that copper and silver were also underreported, and sulfur, iron, iridium, titanium and zinc were present, but not accounted for. The Tanzanian government then imposed a ban on the export of gold and copper concentrates. The accusation and ban halved Acacia’s market value. In October 2017, Thornton met with John Magufuli, then president of Tanzania, for six hours, emerging with a preliminary deal that included a $300 million payout from Acacia to the Tanzanian government, as well as the Tanzanian government taking a 16% stake in Acacia’s mines. Thornton reportedly did not tell Acacia the terms of the settlement until after the deal was announced, even though Acacia, not Barrick, would be responsible for the payment. Shortly after Thornton’s deal with Magufuli was announced, Acacia’s top executives – CEO Brad Gordon, CFO Andrew Wray and COO Mark Morcombe – resigned.

Thornton was an original member of the Schwarzman Scholars board of trustees, founded in 2013 by Stephen A. Schwarzman.

Thornton developed a friendship with the president of Mongolia, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, who was arrested in April 2012 by Mongolia’s anti-corruption commission regarding the alleged misuse of state property while in office. Thornton sought to drum up international support for Enkhbayar, who was accused and convicted of corruption in August 2012, but released from his incarceration soon thereafter and pardoned by the new President of Mongolia.

In 2009, he became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.

In December 2008, Thornton became a board member at HSBC (the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) and stepped down in 2013.

In 2008, he was awarded the Friendship Award of the People's Republic of China, the highest honor accorded to a non-Chinese citizen. The Chinese government also named him as one of fifteen 'foreign experts' who have made the most significant contribution to China's development over the past three decades.

In 2007, Institutional Investor Magazine named John Thornton one of forty individuals who have had the greatest influence in shaping global financial markets over the past forty years. He received the 2009 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Achievement Award, which every year honors one past participant in collegiate tennis who has made unique contributions to society as well as achieving excellence in their careers.

Thornton joined the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution in May 2000, and became chairman in June 2003. Thornton reportedly arranged for a donation of $12.5 million to Brookings in 2006, with which the institute founded the John L. Thornton China Center. The center has offices in Washington and Beijing and provides recommendations to decision makers in China and the West. In November 2018, Thornton stepped down as board chair and became chair emeritus.

Thornton's interest in China stretches to at least November 1997, when Goldman Sachs assisted China Telecom with its $4.2 billion IPO, one of the first international listings of a Chinese state-owned company. By the time Thornton stepped down from his position at Goldman, the bank had become the lead underwriter for major Chinese state-owned companies.

Thornton joined the board of directors for Ford Motor Company in 1996. William Clay Ford, Jr. – then CEO and chairman at Ford – had been friends with Thornton since their prep school days together at The Hotchkiss School. Their personal ties came under "sharp scrutiny" when William Clay Ford, Jr., received 400,000 shares in Goldman Sachs’s 1999 IPO, the largest individual award of that IPO by a large margin. In 2002, an escalating series of investigations and congressional hearings revealed that Goldman Sachs had “spun hot IPO shares to preferred clients”, mostly CEOs, as "an inducement to win investment banking business" from those clients. Goldman Sachs collected $87 million in investment fees from Ford Motor Company between 1996 and 2002. A board ethics whistle-blower described Goldman's role in the bank's activities with Ford as being "the umpire and pitcher in the same game". Thornton remains a member of Ford's compensation, finance and nominating and governance committees and is one of the longest serving directors of Ford.

Thornton was chairman at Laura Ashley, the British fashion retailer, between 1995 and 2002.

Thornton joined Goldman Sachs in 1980. In 1983, he founded Goldman Sachs' European mergers and acquisitions business. He served as co-CEO of Goldman Sachs International in London from 1995 to 1996. Thornton was Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia from 1996 to 1998, where he expanded the firm's regional franchise during the Asian financial crisis. He became co-president of Goldman Sachs in 1999. When then-CEO Henry Paulson delayed his retirement and Thornton's expected promotion, Thornton left Goldman Sachs in 2003 and became a full professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Thornton is the first non-Chinese full professor at Tsinghua University since 1949. Thornton did not speak any Chinese languages at the time of his appointment. The New York Times reported that Thornton's Goldman exit “was not met with resistance from senior management”.

Thornton received a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard College in 1976, a B.A/M.A. in jurisprudence from Oxford University in 1978, and an Master's degree in Public and Private Management (MPPM) from the Yale School of Management in 1980. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Bank Street College of Education in 2003. Thornton was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007 and an Honorary Fellow of St John's College, Oxford University in 2009.

John Lawson Thornton (born January 2, 1954) is an American businessman and Professor and Director of the Global Leadership Program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is also Executive Chairman of Barrick Gold Corporation and Non-Executive Chairman of PineBridge Investments. Thornton stepped down as Co-President of Goldman Sachs in 2003.