George Van Amson

George Van Amson Managing Director, Morgan Stanley.

He "does not speak Spanish. But he is fluent in the heady language of finance. And his facility has made the Goldman, Sachs & Co. senior international equities trader a vital point guard in one of the world's hottest capital markets: Latin America. In fact, last year Van Amson, 40, was crucial to several of his firm's most significant international transactions as changing economic and political forces made the Latin American market a primary target for institutional and private investors. The deals include Goldman Sachs' coordination of a $2.2 billion global secondary offering for Telefonos de Mexico, one of the largest international deals of the year.

"Van Amson also was instrumental in an $863 million global equity offering for Grupo Televisa, the second-largest equity offering and the largest initial public offering ever for a Mexican company. Last March, he participated in a stock issue of 3.6 million shares for Sears, Roebuck and Co. of Mexico. The result: Goldman Sachs ranks as the leader for underwriting Latin American issues...

"After graduating from Columbia University in 1974 with an economics degree, Van Amson worked for an industrial company and a bank before becoming an analyst in Goldman Sach's controller's office. In 1980, he entered the Harvard Business School. Two years later, he returned to Goldman Sachs after graduating from Harvard with honors...

"In 1986, he was promoted to vice president, and in 1989 he became leader of an emerging market group."

• Emeriti Trustee, Columbia University

In 1986 he married Wendy Alicia Tempro.