Why He Matters
John Castellani is not only president of the Business Roundtable, an association for CEOs that the Financial Times newspaper has called the “the most influential chief executive lobbying group in the U.S.,” he is the person who brought the group to the forefront in Washington and around the world.
Courtesy of John Castellani
The organization’s members have a combined workforce of nearly 10 million employees and $5 trillion in annual revenues, and it often leads public policy debates, advocating for a strong global economy. Business Roundtable companies donate more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They spend more than $70 billion in annual research and development spending, accounting for more than a third of the total private R&D spending in the U.S.
Directorship magazine named Castellani among the 100 most influential people in corporate governance in 2007, citing the financial power of the Business Roundtable and Castellani’s strong influence as a lobbyist.
Path to Power
Castellani graduated from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and began his career as a research scientist at General Electric Co. After a U.S. energy crisis in the ‘70s, the company detailed Castellani to the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington. He remained in the position for four years due to his strong interest in public policy and politics.
Castellani later became executive vice president at Tenneco Inc. and eventually joined the Business Roundtable as president in May 2001. He has headed the Roundtable’s policy initiatives, including civil justice reform, fiscal policy and trade expansion, and he regularly testifies before Congress.
In His Own Words
“There are no trivial issues here. We are unlike other organizations; we don’t cover every issue. We cover things that are top of the mind of chief executive officers.”
The Issues
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Castellani and members of the Roundtable discussed terrorism with Tom Ridge, director of domestic security, later the Department of Homeland Security, under President George Bush. As a result of the meeting, C.E.O. COM Link was created for emergencies — a secure communication system between the Office of Homeland Security and the Roundtable.
In 2005, Castellani was a leader of the coalition working in support of Social Security reform and played a vital role in the congressional approval of the Central America Free Trade Agreement. Castellani and the Roundtable also helped organize the Partnership for Disaster Response, an organization that brings together private sector resources for on-site relief after major natural disasters domestically and abroad.
Castellani testified in front of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in November 2007, highlighting the Roundtable’s strong support of corporate governance reforms and of the Sarbanes-Oxley law over the years. He stressed the importance of company shareholders, boards and management teams properly balancing power so that CEOs could provide necessary oversight and decision-making.
Castellani views his greatest responsibilities with the Roundtable as providing leadership on the issues of international trade, education reform, health care, governance and sustainable development.
The Network
Castellani serves on the staff of the Roundtable along with 16 others, including Executive Director Larry Burton and Executive Director, External Relations Johanna Schneider. The executive committee of the Roundtable includes Ivan G. Seiden, chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications, as chairman; Edward B. Rust, Jr., chairman and CEO of State Farm Insurance Companies, as vice chair; and Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express Co., as vice chair.
Campaign Contributions
Castellani has donated money over the years to Republican organizations and candidates (34 out of 43 contributions listed since 2002), including the Congressional Majority Committee, Freedom Project, New Republican Majority Fund, Republican National Committee, Bluegrass Committee and Every Republican is Crucial PAC. In March 2007, Castellani donated $2,300 each to Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Castellani donated another $1,000 to Dodd in November 2008.