The NYC Comptroller

Biography of William C. Thompson, Jr.

William C. Thompson, Jr. is New York City’s 42nd Comptroller. Sworn into office on January 1st, 2002, he was resoundingly reelected to serve a second term that began on January 1st, 2006.

In this role, Thompson serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the City of New York. In addition to his firm commitment to safeguarding the City's finances, Thompson has sought to expand the reach of the Comptroller's Office and find new solutions to old problems.

During his tenure, Thompson has tackled issues ranging from housing to education to economic development. Putting people first is a lesson he learned at a young age. His father, William C. Thompson, Sr. was an Appellate Court judge who also served his community as a State Senator and a City Councilman, among other positions. His mother, Elaine Thompson, was a teacher in New York City public schools for nearly three decades.

Continuing this tradition, Thompson chose public service upon his graduation from Tufts University in 1974, first as an aide to a Brooklyn congressman, and later as the youngest Brooklyn Deputy Borough President. As Deputy Borough President, he helped to shape policies in housing, health care and the economy, and worked to bring together black, Jewish and Latino leaders to heal the racial divide in the aftermath of the Crown Heights riots.

In the early 1990s, Thompson moved to the private sector, becoming a senior vice president at an investment bank, where he helped municipalities manage their finances and fund capital projects. Public service, however, was always his focus. A proud graduate of Brooklyn's public schools, Thompson was appointed Brooklyn’s representative to the New York City Board of Education in 1994. Two years later, he began the first of five consecutive terms as its President.

Thompson quickly earned a reputation as a reformer, bringing a new focus on accountability to a system that was decentralized and mired in corruption. As Board of Education President, he laid the groundwork for a more centralized management of the public school system that paved the way for mayoral control. Thompson also fought for better after-school programs, improved teacher quality, and an expanded arts curriculum.

Thompson’s experience in both government and the financial industry made him a natural choice to seek the office of New York City Comptroller. Since entering office in 2002, he has worked diligently to safeguard New York City’s finances. His audits have identified over $260 million in potential and actual savings for the City and exposed countless instances of fraud, unsafe conditions, waste, and incompetence.

Thompson has also endeavored to protect our city’s working people. The Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law, responsible for enforcing New York State Labor Law, has debarred 26 dishonest contractors and collected $11 million for workers who were illegally underpaid by New York City contractors, sending a powerful message that shortchanging New Yorkers will not be tolerated.

As chief investment adviser to the city’s five pension funds, Thompson has the fiduciary responsibility of investing and protecting the retirement assets of some 640,000 people. Entering office during a recession, Thompson worked to diversify the pension portfolio from primarily public equities into private equity, real estate and other asset classes.

Under Thompson’s watch, assets managed by minority- and women-owned firms have more than tripled from less than $2 billion to over $6 billion. Thompson has also been a leader among institutional investors in advancing crucial corporate governance and corporate responsibility reforms, and has led the drive for adopting standards that protect the environment and safeguard human rights globally.

Thompson has pressured American firms in the portfolio – including Halliburton, General Electric and Aon – to cease doing business with terrorist nations, such as Iran and Syria, through their foreign subsidiaries. He has likewise called on firms to document the impact of their businesses on the environment. He has insisted that companies doing business in Northern Ireland embrace the goal of equal opportunity in employment and has supported the effort to prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Under Thompson’s watch, the Funds have invested back into New York City at unprecedented levels. These efforts have led to the creation and rehabilitation of more than 20,000 units of affordable housing, the development of thousands of square feet of commercial space, and investments related to creating clean and renewable sources of energy.

Thompson has also worked to make our financial institutions more responsive to the needs of our communities. In 2003, he spearheaded an effort that led to the deposit of $200 million in city funds to establish new bank branches in traditionally underserved neighborhoods, enabling more New Yorkers to open checking accounts and apply for business loans and mortgages. Thompson also established a foreclosure prevention helpline that has assisted some 1,500 New Yorkers struggling to keep their homes.

Comptroller Thompson’s commitment to the security and dignity of New Yorkers extends to the elderly. When the Department for the Aging proposed plans to cut back on services to seniors and close some senior centers, Thompson successfully called on the Mayor to delay the plans. Thompson also led the fight to protect the City’s critical Meals-On-Wheels Program.

Throughout his tenure, Comptroller Thompson has been committed to shaping a government that is based on the common values that all New Yorkers share: community, fairness, diversity and opportunity.

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