Lifetime achievement award Ira Millstein
‘Ira Millstein is a legend. He is someone you want in your corner if your company is facing a sticky situation. The Wall Street Journal has described him as one of Wall Street’s most powerful lawyers,’ said Prabha Sipi Bhandari, senior vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary at American International Group, in announcing the recipient of the 2022 lifetime achievement award.
Millstein is a senior partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges and, according to Reuters, the longest-practicing partner among top US law firms. During his remarkable career, he has advised many boards on corporate governance, with his impressive list of clients including General Motors, Westinghouse, Bethlehem Steel, WellChoice (formerly Empire Blue Cross), CalPERS, Tyco International, The Walt Disney Co and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. He has also advised companies on government regulation and antitrust law, representing the likes of General Electric and Matsushita.
In addition to his legal practice, Millstein is founding chair of The Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School. His previous roles include senior associate dean for corporate governance and the Theodore Nierenberg Adjunct Professor of Corporate Governance at the Yale School of Management and adjunct professor at New York University School of Law.
Millstein has been a frequent lecturer and author on corporate governance, antitrust and government regulation. His many publications include The Activist Director: Lessons from the boardroom and the future of the corporation.
Among many other achievements in the corporate and public realms, Millstein served from 1999 to 2005 as chair of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the Global Corporate Governance Forum founded by the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). From 1997 to 1998, he was chair of the OECD Business Sector Advisory Group on Corporate Governance and from 1998 to 1999 was co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Improving the Effectiveness of Corporate Audit Committees, sponsored by the NYSE and the National Association of Securities Dealers. In 1996, he chaired the National Association of Corporate Directors’ Blue Ribbon Commission on Director Professionalism.
