Byron D. Trott

Background

Byron David Trott was born on December 2, 1958, in Springfield, Missouri, and was raised in Union, a small town west of St. Louis. His father was a World War II Army veteran who later worked as a telephone-line repairman, while his mother sold Avon products and subsequently operated a women's clothing store. Trott has three older sisters.

Trott developed an interest in business during adolescence. With financial assistance from his father and purchasing guidance from his mother, he opened a teen clothing store in Union at the age of seventeen and worked there during weekends and school breaks. He also participated competitively in baseball, basketball, and football and graduated from Union High School in 1977 among the top five percent of his class.

Education

Trott attended the University of Chicago, where he majored in economics and completed an accelerated five-year course of study that combined undergraduate education with graduate business training. He received an AB in 1981 and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1982.

The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 and became internationally known for research and rigorous inquiry in the liberal arts, social sciences, and sciences. Its Graduate School of Business, now the Booth School of Business, developed a strong tradition in economics, finance, and analytical management education. As an undergraduate, Trott played varsity baseball and football, served as captain of the baseball team, and received several academic, athletic, and leadership honors.

Career

Trott began developing business experience through his Union clothing store and summer internships at Boise Cascade Corporation in St. Louis and Continental Bank in Chicago. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1982 in securities sales in New York, then spent six years in private wealth management in St. Louis and Chicago before transferring to the firm's Investment Banking Division in New York in 1989. Goldman Sachs, founded in 1869, was one of the major American investment-banking and securities firms through which corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and investment services were organized globally.

At Goldman Sachs, Trott became a partner and head of the Midwest Banking Group in 1994, co-head of the Chicago office and a managing director in 1996, and vice chairman of the global Investment Banking Division in 2005. He advised family-owned and closely held companies in transactions that included the combination of Mars and Wrigley, the sale of Marmon Holdings to Berkshire Hathaway, and Berkshire Hathaway's 2008 capital investment in Goldman Sachs. He left Goldman Sachs in 2009 after a 27-year career.

In 2009, Trott founded BDT & Company, a Chicago-based merchant bank created to provide strategic advice and long-term capital to family- and founder-led businesses. The firm combined with MSD Partners in 2023 to form BDT & MSD Partners, an advisory and investment firm serving business owners and long-term investors. Trott became chairman, co-chief executive officer, and co-chief investment officer of the combined firm.

Trott has also served as a director of Cox Enterprises, Enterprise Rent-A-Car through The Crawford Group, IMA Group, Sunrise Group Holdings, and Conservation International, as a trustee of the University of Chicago and the Center for Strategic & International Studies, and as a strategic adviser to Sierra Nevada Corporation. His civic and philanthropic work has included support for the Jeff Metcalf Internship Program, the Trott Business Program, rural college-access initiatives, and the arts.

Achievements

• Trott founded the Jeff Metcalf Internship Program at the University of Chicago in 1997, creating paid, substantive internships for undergraduate students across fields of study.

• He helped launch the University of Chicago Careers in Business program, later renamed the Trott Business Program, which combines undergraduate education, business training, mentoring, and practical career preparation.

• Through Trott Family Philanthropies and joint gifts with Tina Trott, he has supported rural and small-town college access, student aid, career pathways, conservation, and the arts.

• He founded BDT & Company in 2009 and developed it into a merchant bank advising and providing long-term capital to family- and founder-led companies.

Religion

Trott was raised in a family that attended church several times a week. His early moral outlook was shaped by his parents' emphasis on integrity, honesty, hard work, education, and treating others as one would wish to be treated.

Views

Trott's stated philosophy emphasizes maintaining a moral compass, acting with integrity and honesty, working hard, and recognizing that achievement requires persistence. He has also connected opportunity with education and mentorship, supporting programs that combine academic preparation with practical experience and expanding access for students from small towns and rural communities.

Quotations: "The most critical element of success is to find your passion."

Membership

Trott has participated in professional, civic, educational, cultural, conservation, and philanthropic organizations. He has served as a trustee or director of the University of Chicago, the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Conservation International, and the Art Institute of Chicago, whose activities include higher education, public policy, environmental conservation, and the preservation and interpretation of art.

He was inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans in 2011 and later served as its president and chairman before becoming chairman emeritus. The association combines recognition of achievement with scholarship and educational programs for students facing financial or social obstacles.

• Served as president and chairman; later became chairman emeritus.

  Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans , United States

  2011 - present

• Trustee.

  University of Chicago Board of Trustees , United States

  2003 - present

• Trustee and former chairman of the investment committee.

  Art Institute of Chicago Board of Trustees , United States

• Director.

  Conservation International , United States

• Trustee.

  Center for Strategic & International Studies , United States

Personality

Trott has described himself as focused, hardworking, competitive, and initially shy in social and commercial situations. Accounts of his early life portray him as a serious student and athlete who accepted responsibility in his family business and responded to customer-facing demands by becoming more confident. He has repeatedly emphasized integrity, honesty, persistence, education, and finding meaningful work.

Quotes from others about the person

• Warren Buffett described Trott as the only banker he trusts. Trott has identified finding one's passion as the most critical element of success and has credited his parents with teaching him integrity, honesty, hard work, and positive thinking.

Interests

• Education, conservation, the arts, mentoring, and support for students from rural and small-town communities.

• Sport & Clubs

  Baseball, football, and basketball

Connections

Trott is married to Tina Trott. Together they have supported educational access, business education, rural students, and philanthropic programs through the University of Chicago and Trott Family Philanthropies.

Wife:

Tina Trott

Philanthropic partner in initiatives supporting education, rural college access, and student career development.

References

• Byron Trott, Chairman and Co-CEO of BDT & MSD Official biography documenting Trott's leadership of BDT & MSD Partners, Goldman Sachs career, corporate directorships, trusteeships, conservation work, and Horatio Alger Association service.
• Byron D. Trott - Horatio Alger Association Biographical account of Trott's upbringing in Union, Missouri, education, early business activities, Goldman Sachs career, honors, philanthropy, and organizational leadership.
• Board names Crown Chair, Grossman, Trott as new Trustees University of Chicago account of Trott's election as a university trustee and his leadership in internship, cultural, and civic organizations.
  2003
• $10 million gift supports newly named Trott Business Program Documents Trott's support for the University of Chicago Careers in Business program and its renaming as the Trott Business Program.
  2016
• UChicago launches $300 million initiative for students from rural areas and small towns Documents the Trott Family Philanthropies gift supporting the Trott Center for Excellence in Rural America and expanded educational opportunities.
  2026