Harry Wilson is the son of Jim and Niki Wilson. Jim was a resident of Johnstown, New York, and Niki was born and raised in central Greece before moving to Johnstown. They currently reside in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Jim was a bartender, and Niki was a housewife and later a sewing machine operator. Wilson graduated as valedictorian from Johnstown High School, of Johnstown, New York. He obtained an AB with honors in government and an MBA from Harvard University, where he was president of the Harvard Republican Club in 1991; in that role, Wilson was outspoken in his efforts to increase the club's appeal to women with a "big tent" approach.
Business career
Wilson has worked for Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs. He later became a partner at Silver Point Capital before his retirement at the age of 36. He joined Yahoo!'s board of directors in May 2012. Harry is currently CEO of the MAEVA Group, a merchant bank focused on turnaround and distressed companies that has advised Radio Shack, True Religion Jeans, Armstrong Energy and YRC Worldwide.
Public career
After a career as a money management executive, Wilson left the business world to pursue charity work and public service at the age of 36. Wilson served on President Barack Obama'sauto industry crisis task force. He took the position at the age of 37 with the Treasury Department in March, 2009 at the request of Steve Rattner, the lead adviser on the auto industry crisis. Wilson lead a small group of people within the auto task force known internally as the "deals and diligence team," which did much of the analytical research that underpinned the task force's policy decisions, conducting interviews, touring auto plants and poring over financial records. Wilson testified in GM's bankruptcy court hearings in the Southern District Bankruptcy Court of New York in July, 2009, noting that the government intends to sell its shares in the bankrupt GM. Wilson was also one of four senior advisers for the U.S. Treasury Department under President Obama. In 2009, Wilson was a member of Westchester County Executive-elect Rob Astorino's transition team. Wilson considered running for Governor in the 2018 New York gubernatorial race against incumbent Andrew Cuomo, and had vowed to spend $10 million of his own money on the campaign. Though he was regarded as a favorite by some Republican leaders, in December 2017 he announced his decision not to run, as he did not want to spend the time away from his family.
In the 2010 race for New York State Comptroller, Wilson announced he was running on February 16, 2010, for the Republican primary for New York State Comptroller. He ran unopposed for the nomination, and ran against incumbent Thomas DiNapoli for Comptroller in the general election on November 2, 2010. Wilson garnered the endorsement of New York City's three major daily newspapers - the New York Daily News, New York Post, and New York Times - considered a major achievement. It was the first time since 1976 that a challenger had accomplished sweeping all three endorsements. Wilson lost in a close race on November 2, 2010, and he conceded defeat on November 3, 2010. Despite the loss, Capitol News rated his campaign the best in 2010 in all of New York state.
