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(Photo: AP)
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Age: 60
Born: March 12, 1947; Detroit, Mich.
Education: B.S., Brigham Young University, 1971; MBA, Harvard Business School, 1975
Military: None
Family: Married (Anne), five children
Hometown: Belmont, Mass.
Religion: Mormon
Career: Governor of Massachusetts 2003-present, President, Salt Lake Olympics Organizing Committee, 1999-2002; CEO, Bain and Company, 1994-1999; Democratic Senate Candidate, 1994; Founder, Bain Capital, 1984-90; VP, Bain and Company, Inc., 1978-84
Son of three-term Michigan Governor George Romney.
Three years after law school, Romney became Vice President at Bain & Company, Inc., a management consulting firm. Eight years later, he founded Bain Capital, an investment company with controlling interest or assets in firms like Staples, Domino’s Pizza, and Brookstone.
In 1999, Romney was asked to head up the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics Organizing Committee. After controversy in the 1998 Winter Olympics concerning marijuana use by some athletes, as well as the bidding controversy (that Salt Lake City used inappropriate means to try to sway the IOC to give them the bid), Romney took the position. The Olympics were not completely free from controversy, however, thanks to the now-infamous French-judge/ice-skating controversy.
Romney was tapped by the Massachusetts Republican Party to go up against Senator Ted Kennedy in 1994, losing 58 percent-to-41 percent. The race had been closer, but controversies surfaced about Romney’s business dealings. Romney had engineered a takeover of Smith Corona Corp.'s SCM Office Supplies, a paper plant in Indiana. As a result, hundreds of people lost their jobs or were rehired at lower wages and fewer benefits. Kennedy picked up on this and mentioned the job cuts and the resulting employee strike in a campaign TV spot.
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