Terry Thornton, a senior vice president in Goldman Sachs’s Houston investment banking office, died suddenly on Feb. 27 at the age of 51.
He joined the investment banking division at Goldman Sachs in 2003 and was responsible for business development in Texas and the Southwest.
Jeff Scruggs, managing director, public sector and infrastructure banking at Goldman Sachs, said Thornton was well known and well respected by the public finance community in Texas.
“I’ve talked to most if not all of the major clients Terry had and everybody was incredibly shocked, incredibly saddened,” Scruggs said, noting that Thornton worked on many large municipal deals for issuers including the state of Texas and its transportation department, as well the cities of Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.
“There were a number of clients that really expressed how much they liked Terry in addition to respecting his knowledge and respecting his banking skills,” Scruggs added.
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Thornton was director of financial services for Harris County, Texas.
Amy Perez, deputy executive director of Harris County’s Office of Management & Budget, called Thornton’s death “a huge loss for the industry.”
“He had a very unique perspective in the fact that he used to be the issuer. So he was very keen on different things going on in the county and was very honest about what he thought would work as far as bond issuances and that sort of stuff. He was a pleasure to work with and he will be greatly missed,” she said.
Thornton received a bachelor's degree in managerial studies at Rice University and an MBA from the University of Houston.
He is survived by his wife, Sandy, and two young boys. Funeral services will be held in his home state of Arizona on Monday.
