Mike Bodson, DTCC President and CEO, accepts award from Jon Watkins, Global Custodian Managing Editor.
Mike Bodson, DTCC President and CEO, recently received Global Custodian’s (GC) Lifetime Achievement award for his contributions to the financial services industry.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be considered for this award, no less receive it—being recognized with a Lifetime Achievement award means a great deal to me,” Bodson said. “But it’s important to remember that anything I’ve accomplished has been supported by thousands of people at DTCC, as well as my colleagues at my prior jobs. I share this award with them and many others who have had a profound influence on my life and career.”
Bodson accepted the award on Thursday, November 7, at GC’s 30th Anniversary Industry Leaders event in New York. The event recognizes financial industry leaders and top performers.
The awards are based on the results of Global Custodian’s market-leading surveys conducted throughout the year. Past recipients include SS&C Technologies’ Chairman and CEO Bill Stone and Brown Brothers Harriman’s Global Ambassador Susan Livingston.
Reflecting on his time in the industry, Bodson told GC one of the primary reasons that attracted him to the industry was its continuous evolution.
“The people you work with, along with the complexity of the industry, make it both challenging and exciting. I have never had a boring time in my career,” said Bodson, who became President and CEO in 2012 after Don Donahue retired.
Bodson recalled the lessons he’s learned as the firm’s leader, beginning on his first day as CEO. Futures broker Knight Capital Group suffered a computer glitch resulting in a loss of $440 million in 30 minutes. Bodson was dealing with his first crisis and quickly knew he had to rely on his team to resolve it.
“When you are in this position where you have to provide leadership, it forces you to learn humility,” he said. “The best way to lead is to let others do their jobs and for me to help remove obstacles.”
In the seven years Bodson has served as president and CEO, one of his primary goals has been ensuring DTCC is prepared for whatever the future may bring.
Some of his notable achievements include steering the industry toward the T+2 settlement cycle, leading DTCC during two major crises—Superstorm Sandy and the Knight Capital technology incident—successfully protecting clients from potential losses, the acquisition of Omgeo, and positioning DTCC as a leader in the fintech space by advising on governance principles for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and operational resiliency.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, Bodson served as DTCC’s Chief Operating Officer. He joined DTCC in 2007 as Executive Managing Director for Business Management and Strategy. Before that, he held several senior management positions with Morgan Stanley in the U.S. and Asia over a 20-year period. Earlier in his career, Bodson worked at Bear Stearns and Price Waterhouse.
He is a CPA and graduated magna cum laude from Boston College. He currently is a member of the Board of Digital Asset Holdings and is a trustee of the World Economic Forum’s Financial Services Initiative.