Background
Labrecque, the third child of eight, was born to Theodore J. Labrecque, a New Jersey Superior Court Judge of French Canadian descent and Marjorie Labrecque.
Labrecque, the third child of eight, was born to Theodore J. Labrecque, a New Jersey Superior Court Judge of French Canadian descent and Marjorie Labrecque.
Bachelor, Villanova University, 1960. Postgraduate, American University, 1964. Postgraduate, New York University, 1965.
Doctor (honorary), Villanova University. Doctor (honorary), University Charleston. Doctor (honorary), Drexel University.
Doctor (honorary), Marymount College.
Before beginning his banking career he decided to go join The United States Navy and serve four years, rising to the rank of lieutenant. During his service, Labrecque spent time serving on a destroyer at Guantanamo Bay in 1960, in the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea during the building of the Berlin Wall, and also during the Cuban Missile Crisis where he headed a section of the Office of Naval Intelligence, marshaling ships in the blockade off Cuba. In 1964, Labrecque entered the management training program at Chase Manhattan Bank and quickly made his way up.
By 1976 he was appointed to Chase"s management committee when he was only 38, making him ten years younger than any other member.
During this stage point in the committee at the request of David Rockefeller (the Chief Executive during this period) Labrecque served to resolve the financial crisis at the time. In 1981, Labrecque finally made it to President and chief operating officer of Chase Manhattan Bank.
When 1990 came, Chase bank was suffering from defaults on loans given to real estate developers and less-developed countries. To settle the problem, the company"s board looked upon Labrecque to solve the issue and named him Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the firm.
In turning around the bank he divested the company"s underperforming businesses and boosted profits in core divisions such as cr cards, trust and custody, and mortgage banking.
And in 1996 he orchestrated Chase Manhattan Bank"s $11 billion merger deal with Chemical Bank. As part of the merger agreement, Labecque agreed to relinquish his position to Chemical"s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Walter V. Shipley and return to President and chief operating officer of the company. During the rest of Labrecque"s time, he was the key person from the bank who coped with Russia"s loan default and he was also pivotal in negotiations to restructure the hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management.
In June 1999 he had stepped down to retirement.
Afterwards, he served as the Chairman of Chase"s International Advisory Council, a Director of Pfizer and Delphi Automotive Systems, and on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame. In September 2000, Labrecque was diagnosed with lung cancer, though he did not smoke and was in good health prior.
Only a month later in October he died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Trustee Brookings Institution, Central Park Conservancy, New York University, University Notre Dame. Board directors New Visions for Public Schools, International Rescue Committee. Board visitors Duke University Fuqua School Business.
Chairman Annenberg National Task Force for School District Reform. Past president International Monetary Conference, Bankers Roundtable. Member Council Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission, Business-Higher Education Forum.
Lieutenant United States Navy. Member Business Council, Business Roundtable.
Married Sheila English Cardone, June 16, 1962. Children: Thomas, Douglas, Karen, Barbara.