Owner profile OF WINE, ART, AND FINANCE Henry Cornell’s multifaceted career as investor, philanthropist, and vintner has extended from New York to Asia and California. By Josh Sims Henry Cornell recently created a new chapter in his professional life. “When you work at an extraordinary place like Goldman Sachs for 30 years, you tend to identify yourself with the institution—and then when you retire, you have to self-identify in some other way. I suddenly felt like I had to answer the existential crisis of what I was going to be when I grow up,” he laughs. The answer, after three decades with Goldman Sachs—where Cornell was a founding partner of the banking heavyweight’s private equity investment business—was just to keep on going. He created his own private equity firm, Cornell Capital, with a number of his former colleagues. The focus is on partnering with strong, entrepreneurial management teams across the consumer, industrial and financial sectors. His firm’s strategy is a unique one, given the depth of his business experience in North America and Asia. In 1992, Cornell created the merchant banking business in Asia, and as he puts it, “Everyone in China was in Mao suits and riding bicycles, and now, everyone is in blue suits and driving a car—understanding what that transformation meant was critical,” he says. “In fact, we’ve never seen greater wealth creation in human history than that which we’ve seen in China over recent decades. The dynamism of the Chinese people was unleashed, and that was very exciting to be a part of. I was an honored guest and student, albeit one with capital resources to help in a developing economy.” Today, Cornell Capital manages well over billion in assets and has offices in New York and Hong Kong. Cornell became a NetJets Owner some 15 years ago and regards it as one of his most useful business tools for creating efficiency, increasing productivity, and allowing more ground to be covered expeditiously. “My investment in a NetJets ownership has been an incredible return for our people and our portfolio companies.” Cornell, now 63, was always driven to rise from his Bronx roots and experience the world. The son of immigrants, he grew up in a single-parent household and was the first of his family to be born in the U.S., and the first to graduate from college. “My mother taught me the importance of being philanthropic, and not just when you have material success,” Cornell said. “That’s an idea I try to instill in my own five children. My mother did not define success in material terms, but in those of family and community.” He also serves on the boards of such diverse organizations as an anti-poverty group in New York City, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Navy SEAL Foundation. Beyond his career success, Cornell has always had a passion for wine. In fact, he OLAF BECKMANN 28 NetJets
