Richard “Dick” Harrington is Chairman and General Partner at The Cue Ball Group, a Boston-based venture capital firm. He is a highly respected industry leader who holds some of the deepest industry experience in online information, media and business information services. At Cue Ball, Dick helps set the overall strategic direction, and plays an active role in deal sourcing, portfolio management and mentorship of CEOs.
He is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of The Thomson Corporation (now the Thomson Reuters Corporation) and led several of its businesses there for over 27 years before taking on the group’s top post.
As CEO of the Corporation, he led the transformation of Thomson from a diverse holding company, into the leading global provider of online business information, software and services, serving professional customers. Under his direction, Thomson’s cash flow quadrupled and its market value more than tripled, creating the world’s largest information and media company. He led more than $45 billion in deal transactions, with two of the best known being Westlaw and Reuters. The company has become a celebrated case study in how a large business can adapt quickly and repeatedly to take advantage of changing markets.
Prior to becoming CEO of The Thomson Corporation, Mr. Harrington held a number of senior leadership positions within the company since 1982, including CEO of Thomson Newspapers and CEO of Thomson Professional Publishing.
Mr. Harrington holds a B.S. degree in accounting from the University of Rhode Island. In 2002, he was presented an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from URI. Mr. Harrington began his professional career with Arthur Young & Co, where he became a licensed C.P.A.
Mr. Harrington serves on the board of directors of Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) and Aetna, Inc. (NYSE: AET), and the University of Rhode Island (URI) Foundation. He is the Audit Committee Chair of both Xerox and Aetna boards.
He is co-author of the book “Heart, Smarts and Guts” published by Harvard Business Publications, and an article in the Harvard Business Review (March 2008): Transforming Strategy One Customer at a Time, which examines how a customer-driven strategy approach can be applied to drive transformative growth , and in which Thomson is profiled as a case study.
Mr. Harrington has received many honors during his career. In 2007, he received the “Legend in Leadership” award from the Yale University Chief Leadership Institute; the “CEO of the Year” award from the Executive Council, and the “Man of the Year” award from the National Executive Council, for his many philanthropic activities.