Raymond J. McGuire was born on 23 January 1957 in Dayton, Ohio, and was raised by his single mother, Wiletha McGuire, a social worker, and his grandparents. He has recalled that their home was always open to others, sharing it with five to eight foster siblings at any given time. He attended the Hotchkiss School, graduating in 1975.
McGuire began working in finance in 1984 and held executive roles at Merrill Lynch, where he worked in mergers and acquisitions, and then at Morgan Stanley, where he served as global co-head of mergers and acquisitions.
In 2005 he moved to Citigroup, initially as global co-head of investment banking, and spent a total of 13 years as the bank's global head of corporate and investment banking, making him one of the most senior Black executives on Wall Street.
In 2018 McGuire became vice chairman of Citigroup and chairman of its banking, capital markets and advisory business. He is also known as a patron of the arts and of educational and community institutions, serving on and chairing the boards of a number of cultural organisations.
In October 2020 he left Citi to run for mayor of New York City in the 2021 Democratic primary, raising $5 million in his first three months as a candidate. Although he did not win, the campaign marked a rare move from the top of Wall Street into electoral politics. In 2023 he was appointed president of a financial services and investment banking firm.
- Global head of Citigroup's corporate and investment banking for 13 years
- Vice chairman of Citigroup and chairman of its banking, capital markets and advisory business, 2018
- Global co-head of mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley
- Candidate in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary
- Chair and board member of major cultural and educational institutions
- Family example shapes a career. McGuire credits a home built around helping others for the sense of service that later shaped his civic work.
- Success in one field can become a platform for another. He took three decades of banking experience into a campaign for the mayoralty of the nation's largest city.