George Herbert Walker IV

Template:Short description Template:Infobox person George Herbert Walker IV (born April 1969)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is an American investment manager.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is the chairman and CEO of Neuberger Berman, one of the largest independent, employee-owned investment management firms.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /> During Walker's tenure, the firm survived the implosion of its corporate parent, Lehman Brothers, and was repurchased by the employees and has since been amongst the industry's best performers.<ref>New York Times Dealbook: A Chief Delivers Neuberger Berman From the Shadow of Lehman</ref> Walker is the first cousin once removed of 41st U.S. president George H. W. Bush, and the second cousin of 43rd president George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush.

Early life and education

Walker was raised in St. Louis, Missouri.<ref name=":3" /> His parents are Kimberly Gedge and George Herbert Walker III, an investment brokerage executive and U.S. Ambassador to Hungary.<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He comes from a family of industrialists and financiers, originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Walker's great-grandfather, George Herbert Walker, was the founder of G. H. Walker & Co., a securities firm, which eventually became part of Merrill Lynch.<ref name=":6" /> His grandfather, George Herbert Walker Jr., was a co-founder of the New York Mets.<ref name=":6" /> His grand-aunt, Dorothy, married Senator Prescott Bush, father of U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush and grandfather of U.S. President George Walker Bush.<ref name=":7" />

He went to high school at St. Louis Country Day School. In 1986, he received a scholarship from the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag to study in Germany for the 1986–87 school year.<ref name=":3" />

Walker went to the University of Pennsylvania where he received the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar.<ref name="pennsylvania">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was also a member of St. Anthony Hall.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and received a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in European History, both Template:Lang.<ref name="pennsylvania" /><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He also received his MBA as a Palmer Scholar from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="pennsylvania" />

Career

Walker began his career on Wall Street when he joined Goldman Sachs in the Merger Department in 1992.<ref name=":0" /> Six years later, in 1998, Walker became one of the youngest partners in the firm's history.<ref name="pennsylvania" /> He held several senior positions at Goldman, including co-head of the firm's Wealth Management business / "gs.com", and head of Alternative Investment Strategies.<ref name="pennsylvania" />

President George Herbert Walker Bush appointed Walker to the Jacob Javits and Presidential Scholar Boards for the Department of Education.<ref name="pennsylvania" />

Walker was recruited to a rival investment bank, Lehman Brothers, to head its Investment Management Division, of which Neuberger Berman was a part. Following Lehman's bankruptcy, Walker led a management buyout and assumed his present position of chairman and CEO of Neuberger Berman.<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Neuberger Berman has been named as a Best Place to Work by Pensions and Investments for the last 10 years, finishing first or second.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2023, Walker was elected to serve as Chair of the Investment Company Institute (ICI) Board of Governors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Community Service

Walker's current board service includes the Partnership for New York City (Vice Chair), the Ford Foundation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Center and the Trinity School.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He served on the board of the New School University, Parsons School of Design (Chair), the University of Pennsylvania Arts & Sciences’ Board of Advisors, and Youth EnterNet.<ref name="pennsylvania" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also served on the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City.<ref name=":1" /> In 2003, he funded the Alan Charles Kors Term Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania in honor of a former professor.<ref name=":2" />