Harry Wilson (businessman)

Early life and education

Harry Wilson is the son of Jim and Niki Wilson. Jim was a resident of Johnstown, New York, and Niki was born and raised in central Greece before moving to Johnstown. They currently reside in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Jim was a bartender, and Niki was a housewife and later a sewing machine operator.

Wilson graduated as valedictorian from Johnstown High School, of Johnstown, New York. He obtained an AB with honors in government and a MBA from Harvard University, where he was president of the Harvard Republican Club in 1991; in that role, Wilson was outspoken in his efforts to increase the club's appeal to women with a "big tent" approach.

Business career

Wilson has worked for Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs. He later became a partner at Silver Point Capital before his retirement at the age of 36. He joined Yahoo!'s board of directors in May 2012.

Public career

After a career as a money management executive, Wilson left the business world to pursue charity work and public service at the age of 36.

Wilson served on President Barack Obama's auto industry crisis task force. He took the position at the age of 37 with the Treasury Department in March, 2009 at the request of Steve Rattner, the lead adviser on the auto industry crisis. Wilson lead a small group of people within the auto task force known internally as the "deals and diligence team," which did much of the analytical research that underpinned the task force's policy decisions, conducting interviews, touring auto plants and poring over financial records. Wilson testified in GM's bankruptcy court hearings in the Southern District Bankruptcy Court of New York in July, 2009, noting that the government intends to sell its shares in the bankrupt GM.

Wilson was also one of four senior advisers for the U.S. Treasury Department under President Obama.

In 2009, Wilson was a member of Westchester County Executive-elect Rob Astorino's transition team.

Wilson has generally been disinclined to comment to news outlets, making a single exception for the Gloversville Leader Herald, his hometown newspaper, before the start of GM bankruptcy hearings in July, 2009.

New York State Comptroller race

In the 2010 race for New York State Comptroller, Wilson announced he was running on February 16, 2010, for the Republican primary for New York State Comptroller. He ran unopposed for the nomination, and ran against incumbent Thomas DiNapoli for Comptroller in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Wilson garnered the endorsement of New York City's three major daily newspapers - the New York Daily News, New York Post, and New York Times - considered a major achievement. It was the first time since 1976 that a challenger had accomplished sweeping all three endorsements.

Wilson lost in a close race on November 2, 2010, and he conceded defeat on November 3, 2010. Despite the loss, Capitol News rated his campaign the best in 2010 in all of New York state:

After any election, there are winners and there are losers. But sometimes a loser can really be a winner, and vice versa, depending on how well their campaign performed. Here are some of the best run campaigns of 2010...: Harry Wilson

Fundraising for Republican candidates

In 2012, Wilson raised funds for the campaigns of Republican candidates Matt Doheny for Congress and Wendy E. Long for the United States Senate.

Personal life

He married Eva Romas in 1997. They have four daughters and live in Westchester County, New York.