Nelson Chai
Nelson Joosuk Chai | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 New York City, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Financial executive, investment banker |
| Known for | Chief financial officer at Merrill Lynch, president of Bank of America's Asia-Pacific operations, president of CIT Group, CFO at Uber |
Nelson Joosuk Chai (born 1965) is a prominent American financial executive and investment banker. He previously held the position of chief financial officer at Merrill Lynch and briefly served as president of Bank of America's Asia-Pacific operations. Additionally, Chai was president of CIT Group, reporting directly to then-CEO John Thain. On August 21, 2018, he was named chief financial officer at Uber.
Career
Before joining medical diagnostics company Dade Behring in 1997 as corporate vice president of global field finance—later advancing to senior vice president of business development—Chai occupied senior positions at AlliedSignal and Philip Morris.
Archipelago
In June 2000, Chai assumed the role of CFO at Archipelago Exchange, an electronic communication network firm based in Chicago, Illinois. He played a key role in facilitating the merger between Archipelago and the New York Stock Exchange, persistently encouraging CEO Gerald Putnam to negotiate with NYSE representatives despite Putnam initially favoring acquisition of rival ECN Instinet. When Archipelago announced its purchase by NYSE in April 2005, Chai was designated to become NYSE’s CFO in May 2006, succeeding Amy Butte. In 2006, his compensation from NYSE included a $750,000 salary and an $825,000 bonus, amounting to total cash earnings of $2,168,922.
Merrill Lynch
On December 3, 2007, John Thain, recently appointed CEO of Merrill Lynch and Chai’s former superior at NYSE, selected him as CFO effective December 10 as part of a management restructuring following losses linked to the subprime mortgage crisis. Chai replaced Jeffrey Edwards, who transitioned to another role within Merrill. For the brief three weeks he served in 2007, Chai received a $2.5 million bonus divided equally between cash and stock, bringing his total compensation that year to $3.1 million. Merrill justified this payment by noting Chai forfeited any year-end incentives from his previous employer. In 2008, his salary was set at $600,000; however, due to the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, neither he nor other top executives at Merrill received bonuses that year.
Bank of America
Following Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch in late 2008, Chai was appointed to lead BofA’s Asia operations. The bank intended to relocate him to Hong Kong, replacing longtime BofA executive Jason Brand. However, Chai departed from Bank of America in February shortly after CEO Thain’s removal—just two weeks later—and before making the move. His successor was Ki-Myung Hong, leaving only Tom Montag from Thain’s original management team still with BofA.
CIT Group
In early 2010, after hiring John Thain as CEO, the CIT Group sought out Chai for its CFO position. By June that year, he joined CIT as chief administrative officer and head of strategy with responsibility for global infrastructure, operating architecture, insurance and consumer finance units, business development, and strategic planning. In August 2011, he was elevated to president while maintaining his existing responsibilities and taking on oversight of CIT’s corporate finance and vendor finance divisions. His total compensation in 2011 amounted to $1.7 million—a 40% decrease compared to 2010—reflecting a general reduction in executive pay across CIT except for Thain and transportation division president Jeffrey Knittel.
Personal life and other activities
Chai was born in New York City to parents who immigrated from Korea. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and later obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School. Together with his wife Jung, who is a homemaker, he has three children. The family previously resided in Lake Forest, Illinois before moving back to New York City. In 2004, Chai transitioned from driving an Isuzu Trooper compact SUV to a more environmentally friendly Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle.
Since August 2007, Chai has been a member of the board of directors for the United States-India Business Council. Additionally, he holds a position on the national board of directors for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.