ISSAQUAH, WA – Costco Wholesale Corporation announced this week that it has elected a new Chairman to the company’s Board of Directors. Hamilton E. “Tony” James has been named to the position.
James has served on the company’s Board of Directors for nearly three decades. He joined the Board in August of 1988 and has operated as its Lead Independent Director since 2005.
James is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Group—a publicly-owned private equity firm, hedge fund sponsor, and provider of financial advisory services. According to Blackstone's executive profile, James is also a member of the Board of Directors of Blackstone Group Management LLC and Blackstone’s Management Committee.
Prior to joining Blackstone, James served as Chairman of Global Investment Banking and Private Equity at Credit Suisse First Boston. Before the acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, James was the Chairman of DLJ’s Banking Group, responsible for all the firm’s investment banking and merchant banking activities. James joined DLJ in 1975 as an Investment Banking associate. He became head of DLJ’s global M&A group in 1982, founded DLJ Merchant Banking, Inc. in 1985, and was named Chairman of the Banking Group in 1995.
Additionally, James is a Trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Member of The Boards of Trustees of the Mount Sinai Health System, Member of the Center for American Progress Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of Trout Unlimited’s Coldwater Conservation Fund, Trustee of Woods Hole Oceanographic, Trustee of Wildlife Conservation Society, Advisory Board member of The Montana Land Reliance, and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of American Ballet Theatre. He is also a former member of the President’s Export Council - Subcommittee on Technology & Competitiveness.
James graduate from Harvard College in 1973 with a BA, and subsequently earned a MBA with high distinction from Harvard Business School, graduating as a Baker Scholar in 1975.
Costco currently operates 737 warehouses, including 512 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 97 in Canada, 37 in Mexico, 28 in the United Kingdom, 25 in Japan, 13 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, 8 in Australia, 2 in Spain, 1 in Iceland, and 1 in France. Costco also operates e-commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, and Taiwan.
