John Fish (businessman)

John Fish is an American businessman. He is the longtime chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction Company, the largest building company in New England,[2] and was chair of the private effort to secure Boston’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Fish was the chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and was the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.[3] In 2012 and 2015, Boston magazine named him the #1 most powerful person in Boston,[4][5] and the 6th most influential person in Boston philanthropy in 2013.[6] The Boston Globe named Fish Bostonian of the Year in 2015[7] and in 2018, he was named to the Boston Business Journal's "POWER 50" list.[8]

John Fish
NationalityAmerican
Occupationbusinessman
Net worth$1.2 billion (2019)[1]
Spouse(s)Cynthia (Gelsthorpe) Fish
Children3
Parent(s)Edward A. Fish

Early life and education

Fish was raised in Hingham, Massachusetts,[9] the son of Edward A. Fish.[10] Fish grew up with dyslexia. He attended Tabor Academy where he played football. He was captain of the team his senior year, and continued to play in college until he had a neck injury.[11] He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1982[12] with a political science degree.[13]

Career

After college, Fish worked for Peabody Construction, his father's company.[11] When he was 23,[2] in 1982,[14] Fish and his father established Suffolk Construction Company, an offshoot of the family construction business, which was immediately put under Fish's control.[9] Suffolk was unique in that it used non-union labor unlike the Fish family's existing company.[9] In 2006, Fish bought out his father's stake in the company.[14] Fish built the company into a top national construction company[15] responsible for high-profile projects such as Boston’s Millennium Tower, a new facility at Brigham and Women’s Hospital[16] and most recently Encore Boston Harbor. By 2017, the company had 2,010 employees and $3.5 billion in annual sales.[17]

Fish was a vocal advocate for hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics in Boston,[18] and he was chair of the Boston 2024 Partnership, a private group that worked on the bid[19] until the city ultimately withdrew its bid to host the Games on July 27, 2015.[20]

In April 2017, Fish, along with other members of Partnership for New York City, visited the White House where they met with members of the Trump administration to discuss economic growth policies including infrastructure spending and financial reform.[21] Fish also serves on the board of directors for The Real Estate Roundtable.[22]

Philanthropy

In 2008, the Lewis Family Foundation honored Fish with a CEO Social Leadership Award at the Boston Business Journal's Corporate Philanthropy & Citizenship Summit.[23]

Fish has provided scholarships for multiple children to attend Tabor Academy.[11] In 2009, Fish founded Boston Scholar Athletes, an organization aimed at helping student athletes improve their academic performance,[24] and he has donated $6 million to the program. The multimillion-dollar nonprofit runs tutoring centers in 20 high schools and supports underfunded athletic teams with uniforms, equipment and coaching clinics.[25]

In 2010, Fish joined a group of 14 chief executives from the largest companies in Massachusetts to establish the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP). Fish was named chairman of the organization.[26][27][28] In 2011, Fish and his wife were inducted into the Seneca Society of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.[29]

He has served as fundraising campaign chair for Brigham and Women's Hospital's “Life.Giving.Breakthroughs” $1 billion capital campaign, and has donated $5 million to the cause.[30]

In 2014, Fish was named Chair of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.[31] He also served as chair of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's board of directors until 2017.[32] He was named chairman of Boston College’s Board of Trustees, the first non-alumnus in that role.[33] Fish is also on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston[34] and was named chairman of the board of trustees of Bringham and Women's Hospital in January 2018.[35]

Fish has donated to Republican and Democrat political campaigns. He supported the Obama campaign in 2007 and raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama's 2012 bid for re-election.[36]

In November 2015, Fish was given the Ralph Lowell Distinguished Citizen Award for service to others from the Boy Scouts of America Spirit of Adventure Council.[37]

In 2018, Boston College named the Fish Field House in recognition of a gift from Fish as the former Board of Trustees chairman for the school. The facility has a regulation AstroTurf field, and a 12,000 square-foot strength and conditioning center.[38]

Personal life

Fish is married to Cynthia (Gelsthorpe) Fish, daughter of American marketing executive Edward Gelsthorpe.[39] They have three daughters.[40]

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References
  1. "John F. Fish". Wealth-X. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  2. Wayshak, Marc (2 October 2014). "Rolling With the Punches: Heavy Hitter John Fish on How Early Challenges Shaped His Career". Huffington Post.
  3. Geller, Jessica (4 December 2015). "John Fish named chairman of Boston Fed board". Boston Globe.
  4. "The 50 Most Powerful People in Boston". Boston magazine. April 2012.
  5. "Boston's 50 Most Powerful People: The List". Boston Magazine. May 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  6. "The Power List: The 25 Most Influential People in Boston Philanthropy". Boston Magazine. April 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  7. Shirley Leung (December 19, 2015). "Bostonians of the Year 2015: John Fish and Chris Dempsey". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  8. Meet the 2018 Boston Business Journal Power 50
  9. Thomas, Jack (29 June 2014). "John Fish went from struggling boy to Olympic bidder". Boston Globe.
  10. Lawrence, J.M. (June 16, 2010). "Edward Fish, 77; real estate developer improved affordable housing in Boston". Boston Globe.
  11. James Burnett (October 2003). "This Man Is Building a $1 Billion Construction Empire". Boston Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  12. R.S. Cook (September 30, 2013). "The Men Who Helped Build Boston". Boston Common Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  13. Beth Brogan (January 9, 2015). "Leader of Boston's 2024 Olympics bid has Maine connection". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  14. Richard Korman (June 2, 2010). "CEO John Fish Has 'Big, Audacous' Goals For Suffolk Construction". ENR Southeast. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  15. Tulacz, Gary J. (15 May 2014). "The 2014 Top 400 Contractors". Engineering News Record.
  16. "Top Places to Work 2014". Boston Globe. 13 November 2014.
  17. Suffolk Hires Nick Dhimitri As National Vice President Of External Affairs
  18. Chesto, Jon (13 June 2014). "Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish makes his case for Boston's 2024 Olympics bid". Boston Business Journal.
  19. Horowitz, Evan (18 November 2014). "What are the costs and benefits of a Boston Olympics?". Boston Globe.
  20. Arsenault, Mark (27 July 2015). "USOC, Boston organizers halt bid to host Olympics". Boston Globe.
  21. "A Clinton Backer, John Fish Sees an Upside to Trump's Presidency". Boston Business Journal.
  22. "FY2018 Board of Directors". The Real Estate Roundtable.
  23. "John Fish wins Social Leadership Award". Boston Business Journal. August 15, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  24. Peter Goonan (July 11, 2014). "Boston Scholar Athletes program set to expand to Springfield's Putnam Vocational Technical Academy". Mass Live. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  25. Bob Hohler (May 31, 2015). "Despite Scholar Athletes program, Boston still fails student athletes". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  26. Steven Syre (February 28, 2010). "14 CEOs unite to make business heard". Boston.com. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  27. Walter Brooks (May 28, 2013). "The men behind those anti-wind farm ads". Cape Cod Today. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  28. Jon Chesto (January 12, 2016). "Powerful business group keeps low profile in Boston". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  29. "Seneca Society Welcomes New Members". Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  30. "Brigham and Women's raises $550M of $1B campaign". Boston Business Journal. September 13, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  31. "John Fish to chair Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce". Boston Business Journal. January 21, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  32. "Deirdre Fernandes". Boston Globe. December 22, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  33. Dunn, Jack; Sullivan, Kathleen (2 October 2014). "Trustees Welcome New Chair, Members". Boston College Chronicle.
  34. Jon Chesto (July 31, 2015). "After Olympics bid, John Fish is down but hardly out". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  35. "Boston-based Capstone seals the deal for a Denver investment bank". Boston Globe. January 23, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  36. Ian Duncan (February 20, 2012). "Obama bundler's firm backed Romney 'super PAC'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  37. "Boy Scouts to honor John Fish and Richard Packer". Patriot Ledger. November 3, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  38. Fish Field House
  39. William Grimes (September 27, 2009). "Edward Gelsthorpe, Master Marketer, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  40. "Jennifer Fish". Bucknell. Retrieved June 19, 2017.

Further reading
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