Karen Cook' (born 1952/1953) is a British banker who chairs the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs.

Karen Cook
Born1952 or 1953 (age 71–72)[1]
London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materAlliance Manchester Business School
OccupationBanker
TitleChair of the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs
SpousePatrick Drayton
Children6

Early life

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Karen Cook was born and raised in London, the only child of a car mechanic father.[2]

Career

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Cook started her career in the Foreign Office, but found it "too bureaucratic and slow".[2] She then earned an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School, and joined First National Bank of Chicago. She moved to Schroders in 1988.[2]

Cook joined Goldman Sachs in 1999 as head of UK investment banking and became a partner in 2000.[2]

In 2004, she became a director of Tesco.[1]

In 2015, Cook became Goldman Sachs' global investment banking division co-chair.[3]

Cook has been called the "Queen of M&A", having advised BG Group on its planned £47 billion takeover by Shell.[3]

Personal life

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Cook is married to fellow banker Patrick Drayton, and they have six children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Armitstead, Louise (12 September 2004). "Women take one step forward and one back". moloneysearch.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Turner, Nick Kostov and Matt. "Karen Cook: Goldman's queen of M&A". fnlondon.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b Hosking, Patrick (8 July 2015). "'Queen of M&A' set to spearhead investment at Goldman". Retrieved 9 August 2018 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.