Glenn Allen Youngkin is the 74th republican governor of Virginia, an astute businessman, assumed office on January 22, 2022. During the 2021 general elections, he ran against Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe and emerged victorious. From 1995 to 2020, Glenn, worked as the president and co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. In connection to his candidature, a poll was submitted to Ballotpedia and the then candidate expressed that; ‘’ We need a governor with real-world experience who can create jobs, keep businesses from leaving, put an open-for-business sign on Virginia, and create a rip-roaring economy that lifts all Virginians’’.
Early life and Nationality
Richmond, Virginia, U.S. was where Glenn was birthed to Ellis (nee) Quinn and Carroll Wayne Youngkin. Glenn’s father was on the basketball team when he was in Duke University. He also worked in an accounting and finance firm and his mother worked as a nurse. In his teen years, Glenn’s family relocated from Richmond to Virginia Beach. Younkin was enrolled at Norfolk Academy in Norfolk, Virginia and in the year 1985, he graduated. Glenn has won manifold of high school basketball laurels.
After high school, on a basketball scholarship, Youngkin preceded to Rice University in Houston, Texas. There, he played four seasons for the Owls in the Southwest Conference, and he combined 82 points and 67 rebounds in his career.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in managerial studies and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1990. From there, he furthered to Harvard Business School in 1994 and attained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
Date of Birth and Age
December 9, 1966 is the birthdate of the 74th governor of Virginia thereby making him 56 years old.
Career
He commenced his career in business at Investment bank First Boston after he graduated from Rice in 1990. Here, he had the responsibility of merging, acquisitions and capital marketing financing. Glenn left to Harvard University to pursue an MBA in 1992 after the bank was bought out by Credit Suisse thereby making it Credit Suisse First Boston. He worked with Mckinsey & Company in 1994 after his MBA.
The private equity firm, The Carlyle Group employed Youngkin in August 1995m they were based in Washington DC. He was a member of the US buyout team. Carlyle named him a partner and managing director in 1999. He was tasked with the firm’s buyout team in United Kingdom between 2000 and 2005. And in US, he handled the global industrial sector making him split his time between Washington and London.
Youngkin was asked by the founders of Carlyle to step down from deal-making to concentrate on the firm’s bigger strategy in April 2008. A seven person operating committee was formed in 2009 by the founders and was headed by Glenn and was tasked with the handling of the non-deal, day to day operations in the firm. Daniel Akerson and Youngkin climbed the cooperate ladder by joining the three founders of Carlyle at the executive committee.
The interim CFO position was handed to Youngkin until Adena Friedman joined as the new CFO in March 2011 when Peter Natchway, the Chief Financial Officer of the firm left out of the blue in 2010. Youngkin also worked with the firm’s management committee in 2010. The Carlyle Group handed to Glenn the COO position in March 2010 through to June 2014. When the time was due for the Carlyle Group to go public, Youngkin performed a significant role.
In June 2014m due to his hard work, he emerged as co-president and co-chief operating officer with Michael J. Cavanagh who along the line joined the Carlyle Group from JP Morgan Chase. They worked hand in hand to implement the firm’s growth, develop and supervised the group’s operations daily. Comcast whisked away Cavanagh to be their CFO thereby bequeathing Glenn as Carlyle’s president and COO.
The Carlyle Group reported in October 2017 that the founders of the group will step down as daily leaders but would continue as executive chairmen of the firm, they named Youngkin and Kewsong to replace them as CEOs to see to the day to day affairs of the company effective on the 1st of January 2018. As CEOs of the group, both became part of the firm’s board of directors. Their task was partitioned among them. Glenn supervised infrastructure businesses, energy, investment solutions and Carlyle’s real estate while Lee handled the global credit business and corporate private equity.
In their period as CEOs, they ensured that the public traded partnership transformed into a corporation.
“Awkward and increasingly acrimonious” was how Bloomberg news characterized the relationship between the two CEOs. Lee was given command over the corporate private equity and global credit units at the inception because of this; Bloomberg news said in their later publication that Lee has “quickly established dominance, diminishing Youngkin’s clout.”
The call of public service dawned on Glenn, and out of this, he made known his intention to resign from his position as co-CEO in July 2020 but left office in September 2020. He served in this capacity for two and a half years. The love of community serving made Glenn and his better half found a nonprofit organization in 2020 called Virginia Ready Initiative, centering on linking unemployed people in the state with potential employers and job training programs.
January 2021 was when he publicly declared that he would run for governorship race. More of his campaign was financed by his able self. As a matter fact, Candidate Youngkin used $5.5 million of his own money to fund his campaign. Glenn Yongkin was not the sure bet for many in the run-up to the 2021 Virginia Governorship race. Terry McAuliffe was an experienced and a popular politician among the citizenry of the state while Candidate Yongkin spent most of his adult life running businesses in the private sector.
Majority of Republicans and most of his Democratic critics painted Glen Yongkin as a supporter of Donald Trump. He was questioned times without number about his beliefs about the 2020 presidential election and whether Joe Biden is a legitimate president. However, Yongkin parted himself from “Trumpism” in a way that made him outstanding among the candidates. Yongkin perceived Trump’s supporters as “unprecedented”
McAuliffe was defeated in the governorship race making Candidate Glenn Youngkin the victor by 50.58%-48.64%. This milestone was characterized as the coming together of suburban dwellers and Trump’s supporters. Since 2009, no republican had been able to emerge winner in a statewide electoral race.
Net worth
The governor is estimated at a networth of $440 million according to ‘this nation’. Majority of his life has been in business thereby enabling him to finance 40% of his political campaign.
Forbes indicates that, Youngkin has vast of his wealth from his stake in the Carlyle Group, which is just two percent since he left in September 2020.
Family
Suzanne Schulze Youngkin is the wife of the governor. They tied the knot in 1995. The couple have four children together. Three sons: Grant, John, and Thomas and one lovely daughter, Anna.
Parents
His parents are Carroll Wayne and Ellis Quinn Youngkin.
Height
6′ 7″ in height.
Weight
180 pounds
Social Media Accounts
Instagram: @glennyounkin
Twitter: @GovernorVA
Conclusion
Presently, the governor and his family live in Great Falls, Virginia. He does not shy away from the fact that he is a committed Christian. Glenn’s personal principles have a huge influence on his political conviction. At church, he is a member of the vestry. He worships with Holy Trinity Church in Mclean, VA.