
Builder of Sallie Mae Deal Has a Daring History
April 18, 2007
By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and PETER EDMONSTON
As a financial company, and one that began as a government-created company, Sallie Mae was an unlikely candidate for a leveraged buyout.
But the architect of this week’s $25 billion deal to take Sallie Mae private, J. Christopher Flowers, has had a history of daring financial challenges.
….Mr. Flowers, 49, who founded Goldman Sachs’s lucrative financial services merger business, has built his fortune by investing in distressed financial firms.
….Mr. Flowers, a native of the Boston area, spends leisure time playing chess and squash, as well as sailing in the waters of Maine, where he has a house.
Here is the full story.
How do you find all these stories? Amazing!
How can we get chess enthusiasts of means like Mr. Flowers to help sponsor chess?
Imagine if American chess had regular, ongoing sponsorship of corporation like J C Flowers and Company or Goldman Sachs. We’re not even talking about huge sums of money (as far as those guys are concerned) Just getting a portion of their charitable spending (or marketing dollars or whatever) would energize chess in America.
That’s what we need USCF leadership to do!
And who do you think has the best chance to make that happen? Who can we elect to do that?
How often does he sach pieces in his games?
Frank W. Lawrence