Corzine returning to the financial world

Former Gov. Jon S. Corzine is headed back to the private sector after accepting a job as chairman and chief executive officer for futures and options broker MF Global Holdings, the company announced yesterday.

Corzine, 63, who served as chief financial officer and chairman of Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs before being elected to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate, where he served from 2001 to 2006, was also appointed an operating partner at J.C. Flowers & Co., a buyout firm. He will also be the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs for the 2010-11 school year, according to MF Global.

"MF Global is a firm with tremendous potential and excellent talent," Corzine said. "I see a substantial opportunity for the firm to expand its leadership position in serving clients globally in cash and derivatives markets. I look forward to working with MF Global's team to set a strategic path that will take the firm to new levels of growth, profitability and reputation."

Corzine served one term as New Jersey's governor before losing his reelection bid to Republican challenger Christopher J. Christie.

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said the move did not surprise him.

"Politics did not treat Jon Corzine particularly well," Murray said. "It makes sense for him to do that - others go and make money by being lobbyists. I'm not entirely shocked by that."

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