Left to right: William Donaldson, John Whitehead and MoAF President David Cowen at the 2010 MoAF Gala, where Donaldson was honored with the Whitehead Award for Distinguished Public Service and Financial Leadership.
Museum of American Finance understated, always focused on other people, which is a highly unusual quality in an industry that is filled with egomaniacs. Bill was open and inclusive. In all of my many conversations with people in the industry, I have never met anyone who did not think Bill was a great leader.”
In particular, Mack stressed Donaldson’ s preference for building consensus. That was not just in situations when he needed to be persuasive, but as a normal course of management.“ He went to great lengths to listen and then made decisions. He led in a quiet but effective way. Never showy.”
That said, she noted that he was comfortable issuing orders and expected them to be followed. He performed at a high level and expected others to match his effort.“ He preferred to lead by example. No doubt he was ambitious, even impatient to get things done at times. But you would never know it from the outside.”
Jane Donaldson mentioned a pivotal moment early in the DLJ days when the firm discovered a considerable risk in a company it had recommended to clients. As was related in detail in his memoir, DLJ quickly made full disclosure to clients and offered to get them out of those positions if they chose. Donaldson, who had just returned from Europe, turned around and jumped on a flight back to Scotland to talk to several large clients in person.
While he stressed in his book that it was the forthright disclosure of their initial oversight that earned the young firm a strong reputation, Jane suggested that— in retrospect, that was years before they met— the personal connection was just as important to their success.
Donaldson was a seasoned traveler, including a great deal of international journeys during his DLJ years and his time at the State Department, and then recreationally once he had the time for that.
“ Bill divided his travel distinctly between business and personal,” Jane related.“ His early professional life was primarily business travel. During his early DLJ days he was particularly attuned to visiting customers. It was always very important for him to get on a plane and talk to people face to face. During his later return to DLJ, he traveled extensively helping to develop business in Asia.”
“ When we started traveling more for pleasure, the discussion of destinations often had a distinct pattern,” Jane said with a laugh.“ I would say something like,‘ I’ d like to go to Madrid.’ And Bill would say,‘ Well, I’ ve been to Madrid …’ at which point I would remind him,‘ that was for a board meeting, so you really haven’ t seen Madrid.’ He became a much more interested, enthusiastic and participatory traveler once it was not business travel.”
Donaldson was an avid reader, said Jane.“ He was intrigued by biographies of major historical figures like Thomas Jefferson, or books like The Bretheren [ by Bob Woodward ], but he was also an occasional fiction reader. He was always up for an action thriller. He liked The Hunt for Red October, but mostly non-fiction. Bill and [ historian ] David McCullough were at Yale together, and I think Bill read everything David wrote. There was always
20 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Spring 2025 | www. MoAF. org