Corzine, << cor ZYN, >> Jon Stevens (1947-…), served as governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Before taking office as governor, Corzine, a Democrat, represented New Jersey in the United States Senate.
Corzine is a former cochair of Goldman Sachs & Co., an investment banking firm. His career at the firm made him a multimillionaire. He was elected to the Senate in 2000 after spending more than $60 million of his own money on his campaign.
Corzine was born on Jan. 1, 1947, in Willey’s Station, Illinois. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois in 1969. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1969 and served until 1975. In 1973, Corzine earned an M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago. From 1970 to 1973, he worked as a bond officer at Continental Illinois National Bank in Chicago. Corzine served as assistant vice president of the BancOhio Corporation in Columbus in 1974 and 1975. In 1975, he took a job with Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York City, where he worked until 1999.
In April 2007, Corzine suffered serious injuries when a vehicle he was riding in crashed at a high speed. He broke a number of bones in the accident—including a vertebra, thighbone, and 11 ribs—and underwent several months of physical therapy. Corzine, who had not been wearing a seat belt as required by New Jersey law, paid his own medical bills instead of using his state health insurance.
Corzine lost in his bid for reelection as governor in 2009. In 2010, he was named chief executive officer of MF Global Holdings Ltd., a financial services firm. The firm filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011, and Corzine resigned his position in the firm. In 2015, Corzine and other former MF Global executives agreed to a $64.5-million settlement with investors who lost money with the firm. Corzine and others had been accused of making false statements about the financial health of the company and the safeguards it had taken to protect its investments.
