Ted Mathas
Connecting with the Latino community
Story by: Joseph Treviño Photos by: Kevin Kane
TED MATHAS, THE CEO OF ONE OF THE NATIONS
LEADING COMPANIES OPENS UP ABOUT
HIS FAMILY’S BACKGROUND, EDUCATION,
PROFESSIONAL CAREER, AND SHARES HIS VISION
ON LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY.
T
ed Mathas walks into the venerable conference room
decorated with a long, oak table and leather chairs. A
giant grandfather clock looms over the entrance.
Decked in a dark sport coat, gray shirt, slacks and
bereft of a necktie, he boasts an infectious smile and a
congenial demeanor that highlight his sparkling green
eyes. He is the head of New York Life, the country’s
biggest mutual life insurer.
Mathas leads the Manhattan-based firm, which
is headquartered in a classic, 40-story, gothic-revival
styled skyscraper with a golden pyramidal roof. Designed by Cass Gilbert (the architect who designed the U.S. Supreme
Court Building and the Woolworth Building) and completed in 1928,
the edifice stands out amidst the cluttered landscape of the island – it
speaks of old school Beaux Arts elegance and restrained clout.
Design by: Carlos Cuevas
Vivacious, imbued with a joie de vivre, Mathas, 48, is fronting
what could be one of the company’s largest diversity recruitment efforts in its 170-year-old history. Via social media, the Internet, ads and
word of mouth, New York Life, which has nearly 9,000 employees and
12,000 licensed reps, is looking for bilingual candidates.
The influx of Latinos into New York Life grows every day. The
corporation has nearly 200 Latinos in management positions; Ralph
de la Vega, Vice Chairman of AT&T, sits on its board.
“Ten percent of our current agents are Latino. That’s double what
it was perhaps even six, seven years ago. Looking at our current agent
recruits, 18 percent are Latino,” Mathas says. “We are driving that activity, and there’s still plenty of room to grow.”
But New York Life’s diversity efforts aren’t just about numbers,
Mathas says. The company is looking for people who share its values.
“The growth in America is in the diverse communities of America,
27 • April / May 2016
where there are young families, people with family values who want to take care of their kids and make sure
they can continue on, whatever the circumstances,”
says Mathas, who lives in Westchester County, New
York with his wife, Keryn and their three children.
“We want to lean in to the future of America. The future of America is diverse.”
Family man
Mathas, born Theodore A. Mathas, grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. A third-generation Greek, Mathas
was raised in an extended family. His parents ran
a small business, which afforded them an upper
middle-class life, he says.
Life for the Mathas family revolved around
their Greek Church, he says. From his father, who
by means of his business was able to provide for
his family, young Mathas learned the philosophy
of noblesse oblige (nobility obliges), the French
phrase that signifies that those who have more
should make the most of their gifts.
“He basically instilled upon us we had it better
than he had it, so there’s an expectation that we do
more with that. That was a very powerful lesson,”
Mathas says. “We used to sit at the dinner table
and have conversations about business and politics, and it was grounded in the idea that there’s
no such thing as entitlement. In fact, the more you
have, the more responsibility you have to do something important with that.”
While his father showed Mathas that more was
expected of him, his mother, a middle school math
teacher, taught him the weight of words. As a child,
he was a debater, and his mother showed him that
how you say things is as important as what you say.
“I think that’s a great lesson. It didn’t make
sense to me as a kid. I fought
it as a kid.
28 • April / May 2016
But as an adult in the workplace I can tell you the
messages we deliver to people are irrelevant if you
don’t understand how to speak to people and how
to treat them – to show humanity in connecting
with people,” he says.
Last but not least in his family was his grandmother, an immigrant from Greece who lived with
the family. She saw firsthand the Great Depression,
lost her husband at age 39 and wore black mourning clothes till she was 98; yet despite her hardships, she managed to live a happy life.
“She got dealt some bad cards. I learned from
her that stoic sense of, ‘this is your life, and regardless of what things come your way, look for the
positives and make the best of it.’ She was a
very happy person despite having, frankly,
what people would call bad luck. To me,
that right there is a great learning experience. I was very fortunate,” he says.
His family’s competitiveness, work
ethic and stoicism prepared Mathas
well. Whether in school, in sports or in
everyday life, the lessons he learned at
home drove him in public life.
“He takes everything like he
should win it,” says Charles Doumar,
who grew up with him in Norfolk and
attended law school with him at the University of
Virginia, he told Crain’s New York. When it came to
sports, Doumar added, even when he lost a game
he didn’t “pout, take the ball and hide.”
Destination: New York
For Mathas to attend the college of his choice, his
father had to borrow cash from his whole life insurance policy to pay for school, he says.
“That was really the only financial asset that he
had of value at that point in time, partly because he
believed in it. He thought he had a responsibility.
He did that through life insurance. He paved the
way for me to go to Stanford,” Mathas says.
Once at Stanford, he studied political science
because he wanted a major that covered the most
subjects possible. He often speaks more like a
philosopher than a lawyer – his initial career –
he credits his upbringing and his political science
studies.
At school, he sought
and found mentors who
believed in him, sometimes
even more than he believed
in himself. It worked.
He advises students to
look for mentors who have
faith in them. It doesn’t
have to be a legion; perhaps
two good ones, he says.
In 1989 he graduated
from Stanford University
with distinction. He received a J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1992,
where he belonged to the
Virginia Law Review and the
Order of the Coif.
After graduation, Mathas
again showed the characteristic family tenacity as a
lawyer for a Washington,
D.C. law firm that worked
with New York Life, he told
Crain’s New York during an
interview. He left such an impression on a New York Life
executive in the insurer’s asset management business that she hired him
as her chief of staff in 1995.
The position proved to be a
good learning experience: “I read
everything in her inbox,” he told
Crain’s New York.
By September 1998 he had
become Senior Vice President
and by June 1999 he was named
Chief Operating Officer of the
Agency Department. He was on
a roll.
MATHAS’ LEADERSHIP
PHILOSOPHY
1.Purpose is paramount. Every company –
and actually, every individual – needs to
find purpose in their work. And by that I
don’t mean simply generating profits. A
strong bottom line is an outcome, one that
is important. But it’s not a purpose. Said
another way, making money should not be
the only reason you get up and go to work
every day.
The fact that his company’s core product, life
insurance, helps students go to college, assists
people in need and enables families to stay
together is as satisfying as his professional
accomplishments, he says. He advises young
people entering the workforce to find a place or
company where they are a good fit and that
shares their values.
“I found a home here at New York Life partly
because of that social good purpose. If you can
find something that you really believe in, and can
make an impact, that’s what’s meaningful. For
me, this clearly is. Millions of people’s long-term
financial security—that’s meaningful.
One thing that helped his meteoric rise
through New York Life’s ranks is the firm’s ethos,
Mathas says. Also, the company’s culture
produces committed employees who stay with
the firm for many years, with little turnover, he
says.
Mathas would learn a job fast, get good at it,
and move to another challenge, leaving one position for another inside New York Life – in contrast
to the modern practice of some employees who
go from one company to another.
“That’s what I would encourage: try to find a
home that’s a good fit for you, with people you
think you want to spend a lot of your life with. Because you will spend a lot of your time with those
New York Life Timeline
Key Dates:
•Founded on April 12, 1845 as the Nautilus Insurance Company.
•Renamed New York Life Insurance Company in 1849.
•Moved from lower Manhattan to 51 Madison Avenue in
1928. Previously, the first Madison Square Garden had
occupied this block, as well as a Hippodrome museum
and a circus.
people. I think that’s maybe more important than the
specific job,” he says. “Then try to find within that
place opportunities that will allow you to expand
your toolset.”
In June 2008, the year the Great Recession hit the
country, Mathas, then 41, was named Chief Executive
Officer of New York Life, succeeding Sy Sternberg,
who retired after 19 years of service with the company.
While many financial companies, including other
insurance companies, were greatly affected during
the Great Recession, New York Life came through
even stronger, showing larger profit margins.
Today, Mathas runs a global company with more
than $500 billion in assets, including operations in
Mexico, Europe and Asia. The core of the business
includes life insurance, retirement income, long-term
care insurance and investment management.
A diverse present… and future
In December 2014, New York Life appointed Vice
President Kathleen Navarro, who has been with the
company since 1994, as its Chief Diversity Officer.
She succeeded Joanne Rodgers, who transitioned
into a newly created role in Human Resources.
In 2015, DiversityInc ranked New York Life 27
among its “Top 50 companies for diversity.” Navarro
said diversity is top of mind for the company.
•Ben Feldman, nicknamed “The Greatest Life Insurance
Agent of All,” joins New York Life in 1942 and goes on to
sell $1,800,000,000 of insurance policies.
•The New York Life Foundation is established in 1979 to
aid national and local nonprofit organizations.
•In 1999, as the industry saw a wave of life insurers
demutualizing, New York Life’s board voted to keep the
company a mutual life insurer.
•Also in 1999, New York Life acquired Seguros Monterrey
Aetna, S.A. and Fianzas Monterrey Aetna, S.A. The
transaction vaulted the company to the forefront of the
individual life insurance industry in Mexico.
•In 2002, New York Life became the largest mutual life
insurance company in America.
•New York Life’s operating earnings topped the
$1 billion mark for the first time in the company’s
history in 2004.
•In 2008, Ted Mathas was named Chief Executive Officer
of New York Life.
•2015 marks New York Life’s 170-year anniversary.
“Everyone is encouraged to bring their own perspectives to
the table—whether it’s cultural background, generational beliefs,
or personal style. We seek out diversity of thought, opinion,
background, and experiences. We don’t have a one-size-fits-all
approach,” Navarro said.
A great part of the company’s efforts is working with community organizations, Mathas says. By working with non-profit
organizations like ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals for
America), New York Life is able to make even deeper connections
within the Latino community, Mathas says.
“We look at Latino organizations as an extension of the company in building relationships with the communities we serve,”
he says.
While many Latinos work as agents for the company, the challenge is to get more Latinos into corporate management at New
York Life, Mathas says.
He believes diversity is good for the company because it fuels
a diversity of ideas, challenging New York Life’s professionals to
improve and do things better. Mathas wants people to question
each other on ideas, without it spilling into personal clashes.
“To have an environment where there is conflict around ideas
but without social conflict,” he says. “That’s the ultimate environment for a workplace.”
2.Grow the pie. The world does not have
to be a zero-sum game. Someone’s win
does not have to be someone else’s loss.
Instead of competing with others to get a
bigger slice of the pie, we should all spend
more energy on growing the size of the
overall pie so everyone can have a bigger
slice.
3.Build and sustain trust with others.
Nearly everywhere we look these days –
in business, in politics, or in sports – we
can find examples of individuals and
institutions that seemingly believe that
not getting caught is the same as not
cheating. Frankly, that’s outrageous. We
all know cheating is wrong. Not getting
caught doesn’t make it less wrong by any
measure. While it’s nearly impossible in
any context to have true success without
having trust, many seem to have lost sight
of this fact.
4.Be confidently humble. More often
than not, both luck and skill play a role
in any success we enjoy. Acknowledging
the element of luck keeps us grounded,
and reminds us that every situation is an
opportunity to learn. When we examine
the reasons why we were lucky, we
can find ways to do things better and
minimize the need for luck the next time.