Catching Up with Charles Thompson II Class of 2000, In the spirit of keeping us connected as we move towards our 15 year reunion, Major Betsy Evans and I had the pleasure of catching up with our classmate Charles Thompson in order to tell his story. Chuck is someone who is a consistent contributor to the Class of 2000, and can always be counted on to volunteer his time. If you have ever had a conversation with Chuck, you will walk away impressed by his savviness and positive outlook on life. Over the years I have debated numerous topics via Facebook with Chuck from men’s fashion to foreign policy, and I always walk away on the losing end. I attended Columbia Business School with his wife Kathy, and I am still not quite sure how he managed to get a 1st date with her, but that’s Chuck … the consummate over achiever! After exiting the Army in 2005 Charles Thompson has worked tirelessly to perfect his corporate finance skillset. Over the last nine years he has risen from a Junior Analyst to Senior Vice President of an emerging financial services firm. I hope you enjoy Charles’ story! It is one of resolve, family and friendship. 1. Betsy: Chuck give us a little background of what you have been up to since graduation? Your service in the Army, when you got out, and what you are doing today. I branched artillery, and after OBC and Ranger School I went to Fort Drum and deployed twice to Afghanistan- starting with OEF1. I left the Army in 2005 and went to work in the Equity Capital Markets group of Morgan Stanley in New York while my wife went to business school at Columbia. In 2010 I moved to Credit Suisse as a VP of Equity Capital Markets [He omitted the part where he was grinding 15 – 20hrs a day with the “deer in the headlights look], and this fall I moved to Rhode Island to start with Citizens Bank. Now Im managing our capital markets transactions while we separate ourselves from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). This fall we completed our $3.5bn Initial Public Offering (IPO) (the largest bank IPO in US history) and in December we completed our first term debt offering [They repurchased debt from the debt holders at a predetermined price]. Well be continuing to support RBS as they sell down stock over the next few years, and well be building out our own capital structure [debt levels vs. cash levels vs. equity levels] to be more like that of our peers. Its an exciting time at a growing company, and Ive been very fortunate to be a part of it [Thank goodness I am a CPA and could decipher some of that ]. 2. Betsy: How did your time at West Point and in the Army prepare you for your current career? Well, for starters since I never went to grad school, it was the only formal education I received. That said, the Army is great for giving you jobs well outside of your area of expertise and forcing you to learn well as you go. I think theres also a level of confidence that comes from having managed complicated projects before. Most importantly, though, it gave me a network of friends and colleagues that were critical to almost every significant step forward I have made since. Without the active support of West Pointers I never would have had an opportunity to step right out of the Army and onto Wall Street when I did [When I ran into Chuck in 2005 as a business school student, I was amazed that he had transitioned to Wall Street directly out of the Army … a VERY complicated feat, which speaks volumes about his ability to adapt to change and succeed]. 3. Betsy: What is your proudest accomplishment to date? Maybe it’s not where this question was going, but watching my three boys play together is about as proud as I get. My wife Kathy and I were married for 10 years before we started having kids, and then we had 3 in short succession (twins and another a year later). It was a plan that allowed us to lay a solid career groundwork before expanding our family, but having children was something we always looked forward to and now that we’re at that point, there’s maybe another layer of special satisfaction that comes with being with them. 4. Betsy: Tell us a little bit about your family. I married my wife Kathy in 2003 between tours to Afghanistan, and it was she that encouraged me to leave the Army when I did. She spent a couple years at Bank of America after Columbia [I just realized that I worked with Kathy at BofA, she had much more talent and financial acumen than I ] and then ran her own business until we had our three boys- twins Henry & Teddy (3 1/2) and William (2 1/2). These days shes as busy as I am managing them and the rest of our house. 5. Betsy: If there is one thing you could tell cadets at West Point now, what piece of advice would you give them? Even if you plan on leaving the service at the end of your commitment, how you spent your time while in the Army will matter greatly to those who will hire you afterward. Youll want a resume that shows that you were engaged and shows evidence of leadership (rather than management of equipment) and that you were a person who was seeking challenging schools and running toward the gunfire when your country called. There are plenty of people willing to retrain a smart service academy grad- but theyll do it because thats the kind of person theyll want at the end. Dont spend all your LT and CPT time in a brigade S shop somewhere in Europe. 6. Betsy: If there is any advice you would share with our classmates, what might that be? My relationship with my classmates has been my greatest asset. If you havent used them (or me) before, I assure you that you can count on them. In the past year alone, Ive called on Andrew Kernan, Johnny Ham, Omar Ritter and Andrew Glaze for help with things critical to my job and my family, and theyve always stopped what they were doing to be helpful. Especially if youre transitioning right now, I would highly encourage anyone to reach out for help and ideas. You arent likely to find a golden chair from any of us (though you might), but my first few interviews on Wall Street were pretty rough. I got better with the help of others who pulled me aside and helped me fix myself, and many of my early opportunities came from friends or friends of friends. 7. Betsy: Is there anything you would like to see at our 15-year or 20-year reunion? Do you plan on attending? I plan on going, and Im really just looking forward to seeing everyone. Social media has been great for helping busy people keep up with one another, but there are people I havent seen for 15 years that Id like to. Hope theyll make it this year also. 8. Betsy: Feel free to expand on anything else that you would like to share with our class. Beat Navy! [One day my friend … one day] 2000, please join Betsy and I in congratulating Charles and his family on their successes and his continued representation of the Class of 2000! With Honor in Hand, MAJ (P) Elizabeth Evans, Class Scribe Omar Ritter, CPA, Class President
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:32:34 +0000
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