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Suzanne Nora Johnson is a rarity: a woman who has made it to the top in the world of investment banking. Not any bank, mind, but the awesome moneymaking machine that is Goldman Sachs, the elite Wall Street firm that last year made more cash out of advising on mergers and acquisitions than any of its rivals.
Every morning, Johnson is in Goldmans' New York office before seven, after a short drive from her Manhattan home. Wall Street is a demanding and fiercely competitive place with long hours, interminable meetings and office politics not for the fainthearted.
But Johnson seems relaxed in her plush office overlooking the city as she sips from a glass of sparkling mineral water, scans her email and fields the occasional phone call. 'You know, I love this job, but you have to be committed, very, very committed.'
She was promoted to the board two years ago after being appointed head of the bank's research arm. Johnson is involved in policy and strategic decisions across the organisation and is said to be a favourite of Hank Paulson, Goldman Sachs's chairman. She is also one of the highest paid executives on the east coast, reportedly earning $17m in 2004.
But given that investment banking is notoriously clubby and male, one assumes life hasn't always been easy. Had she ever encountered sex discrimination?
'Look, I have never been starving in my life, I have two parents, I don't come from sub-Saharan Africa - my trials and tribulations have been minor, relatively speaking. But if you are asking whether I think that there should be more women in top positions, not only in banking, but across the board, the answer is yes.'
Johnson, who will be 49 this year, warms to her theme: 'Don't forget, there are many unsung heroes out there, women who are at the top of their professions, but who don't shout about it, they don't promote themselves, which in part, is a gender thing. But it is also due to the prevailing culture: around the world, women are not programmed to shout about their achievements. Perhaps they are too busy juggling their many different responsibilities, at work and at home. It isn't easy.'
Johnson is married but doesn't have children 'not out of design, it just happened that way', so for her, the work/life balance issue is perhaps not as pressing as for others.
She has long been a supporter of 'inclusiveness'; she would like at least half of those interviewed for Wall Street jobs to be women. She has sympathy with the Norwegian government, which has told companies listed on the Oslo exchange they face being shut down unless their boards are composed of at least 40 per cent women. 'I think that we need to achieve critical mass to make a difference.'
In Britain, the Equal Opportunities Commission recently said it might take four decades before women are represented on the boards of FTSE companies in the same way as men. More ominously, six female employees of German investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein last week filed a £790m sexual discrimination lawsuit alleging abusive and unfair treatment. According to the writ, women are denied top jobs in Dresdner's London and New York offices. DKW strongly denies the allegations. Johnson studiously avoids commenting on the case.
She was born in Chicago to middle-class parents. Her father, a doctor, and her mother, a housewife, had five children. Johnson was bright and after leaving the University of Southern California she went to Harvard Law School, where she impressed her teachers and was popular with colleagues. From there she went to work for a law firm, Simpson Thacher and Bartlett, but defected to Goldmans in 1985 at the age of 28.
'I wanted a job at the World Bank as a lawyer, but they said I needed experience in a financial organisation, so I came here. It was during the Third World debt crisis and I found myself engrossed in the work. But I have been fortunate, working with kind and considerate people, and getting the breaks.'
It wasn't long before Johnson became a corporate financier, heading up Goldman Sachs's healthcare division, flying around the world, often working until the early hours. Along the way she got the Goldmans 'bug'.
Goldmans is a bank that prides itself on combining red-toothed capitalism with teamwork - even rivals recognise that the formula is hard to beat. The story still does the rounds about how, after a conference late at night, bankers from a variety of firms left in taxis, while Goldmans staff donned tracksuits to jog back to the office together.
The display of ostentatious wealth is frowned upon - Paulson is said to wear a cheap Japanese watch, while his predecessor, Steve Friedman, carried his papers in a carrier bag. But graduates joining Goldmans go through a rigorous process, having as many as 30 interviews - and even if they jump through all the hoops, their superiors look to cull the weakest in the first 12 months.
Observers worried that when Goldmans abandoned its partnership to float on the stock market in 1999, which saw partners collect about $50m each, partners would cash in their wealth and leave in droves. But the bank has been remarkably successful in retaining staff and most have held on to their shares - about 45 per cent of Goldmans' equity is today controlled by employees.
Johnson says: 'There is a commitment to excellence here, but also a level of collegiality that is difficult to duplicate. Let me put it this way - if you had a pack of "alpha personality" dogs, they would tear each other apart - but at Goldmans, you have an alpha organisation made up of alpha individuals, working together; it's quite something.'
What about her own values? For example, what does she look for in other people before promoting them? 'Character in the very broad sense, they must have integrity and a generosity of spirit.'
Who does she most admire? 'Nelson Mandela, and for different reasons, Oprah Winfrey.' And her favourite book: 'The Elephant Man, because it shows how incredibly brave people can be in the face of adversity.'
Johnson's job as head of Goldman Sachs's international research division has spanned a tricky time, following $1.4bn of fines imposed on Wall Street firms by New York State attorney-general Eliot Spitzer in the wake of the dotcom boom. There were some infamous cases of analysts recommending shares in order to win lucrative advisory work for their corporate finance departments. Remember Jack Grubman, formerly of Citigroup, who was fined $15m, or Henry Blodget, formerly of Merrill Lynch, banned from Wall Street for life?
These days, research departments have to be separated from the rest of the bank by Chinese walls. But if there are more scandals, commentators believe that the banks may have to hive off their research arms altogether.
Johnson is reluctant to get drawn into that debate. She prefers to talk about changes in working practices that have swept the industry: gone are the 'big picture' analysts, and in are the the focused individuals who must be absolutely clear why they are recommending investments, as institutional investors and hedge funds have turned the spotlight on returns as never before.
In some ways, Johnson appears vaguely surprised that she has ended up working for a bank in the Big Apple - 'growing up in Chicago, I would never have guessed that my life would have turned out the way it has.'
With her love of the outdoors, she might have preferred a less frenetic existence, one anchored in the countryside, but she doesn't give the impression of being dissatisfied with her lot.
Johnson has used her position at Goldmans to serve on the boards of universities and research bodies such as the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 'Improvements in society can be brought about by bringing in market expertise and intelligence,' she says. 'Providing capital and risk management is one of the benefits that banks bring to the outside world.' One of the projects she is most proud of involved advising native Americans about how to optimise their wealth and resources. She is clearly not without a social conscience.
Later this month, Johnson is off to the Davos economic summit to rub shoulders with the rich and powerful. How much does she worry about the future?
'There are risks,' she admits. 'Energy-related tensions, terrorism, and regional conflicts.' And, she adds, referring to the huge American trade deficit: 'We must do something about the fact that the world's biggest economic engine [the US] is also the world's biggest debtor.'
Johnson might have added the danger of a property crash as heavily indebted US consumers are confronted with higher interest rates. But by nature, she sees the glass as half full.
'You have to be optimistic to get through life. After all, how many successful pessimists do you know?'
The CV
Name Suzanne Nora Johnson
Born 14 May 1957
Education Chicago High School, University of Southern California and Harvard Law School
Career Law firm Simpson Thacher and Bartlett from 1980-1984, and served as law clerk on the US Court of Appeals. Joined Goldman Sachs in 1985; became vice-chairman in investment banking division in 1990, rising to head of global healthcare business; promoted to head of global investment research in 2002; senior vice-chairman since 2004. Serves on boards of Carnegie Institution in Washington and University of Southern California
Family Married, no children
Hobbies Kayaking, water-skiing, swimming, diving
Says 'Women are not programmed to shout about their achievements'
'Providing capital is one of the benefits banks bring to the outside world'
'We must do something about the fact that America is the world's biggest debtor'
'I never thought I would end up living in New York'
Goldman Sachs
Turnover $43.4bn (£24.5bn)
Pre-tax profits $8.3bn
Employee numbers global 22,400; UK 3,000
Top in global mergers and acquisitions league table, advising on deals worth $2.7 trillion; top clients include Allianz, Telefonica, Vodafone, Ford, and Procter & Gamble. Floated in 1999 valued at $32bn; Current market cap $61.5bn
Where top Goldmans people move to Robert Rubin (former secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration); Stephen Friedman (director of the National Economic Council in the Bush administration) Jon Corzine (governor of New Jersey); Mario Draghi (governor of the Bank of Italy); Paul Deighton (CEO of the London organising committee for the Olympic Games)
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