William B.
William B. Harrison, Jr, former chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, has joined the investment advisory committee of Aurora Capital Group, a private equity firm that specializes in buying and building middle-market businesses.
The committee helps Aurora’s partners identify transactions and evaluate the capabilities of prospective executives, as well as contributing ongoing financial, management and marketing expertise.
‘Bill Harrison is one of the most respected business leaders of our time,’ says Aurora chairman Gerald L. Parsky. ‘The investment advisory committee plays an active role in our investments, and all of our companies and partners will benefit from Bill’s great wisdom and experience as we continue to seek out promising companies and build them into larger and more efficient competitors.’
Harrison joins existing committee members former Honeywell chairman Larry Bossidy, Topa Equities president John E. Anderson, Dale F. Frey, former chairman and president of General Electric Investment Corporation and treasurer of General Electric, and John Myers, chairman of Angelo Gordon Asset Management.
Founded in 1991, Aurora Capital Group currently manages more than USD2bn in private equity capital, pursuing two distinct strategies: acquiring healthy middle-market companies through Aurora Equity Partners III and acquiring companies in need of restructuring through Aurora Resurgence Fund.
Harrison retired as chairman of JPMorgan Chase at the end of 2006. He was chief executive of Chase Manhattan from June 1, 1999 and presided over the mergers with J.P. Morgan in 2000 and Bank One in 2004.
He began his career with Chemical Bank in 1967 in New York, moved to San Francisco in 1976 to open the bank’s first regional office, and then spent five years in London managing the firm’s European business. He returned to the US in 1983 to take charge of the bank’s global banking and corporate finance group.
Beginning in 1992, Harrison played a leading role in managing and successively merging Chemical, Manufacturers Hanover, Chase Manhattan, J.P. Morgan and Bank One, along with Hambrecht & Quist, Flemings and Beacon, to create one of the world’s leading financial institutions. He is a director of Merck and of Cousins Properties.
