Childhood & Early Life
Diana Lancaster Taylor was born on February 6, 1955, in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Lois Johnston (O'Neill) and Edwin Douglas Taylor.
Her father was a biochemist with ‘Union Carbide,’ and her mother was a school teacher. Taylor initially attended ‘Milton Academy’ in Massachusetts.
She then joined ‘Dartmouth College’ to earn a BA degree in economics. After moving to New York, she earned an MBA degree from ‘Columbia Business School.’
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Early career
Taylor moved to New York after graduating from ‘Dartmouth College.’ She soon started working with the ‘Department of Social Services.’
However, she was not satisfied with the job and knew that she wanted more from life. She decided to earn a degree in management and thus applied to ‘Columbia Business School.’
She joined a joint degree program that offered a degree in public health, too. She continued working nights and on weekends, while she attended the B-school during the day.
She worked at ‘St. Vincent’s Hospital’ in Brooklyn as an administrator.
Career
After earning her MBA degree, Taylor bagged a full-time job in the public finance department of ‘Smith Barney.’ After working at the financial firm for a while, Taylor moved on to ‘Lehman Brothers,’ which was the fourth-largest investment bank in the US, before it filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
She then joined ‘Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette,’ another investment bank, founded by William H Donaldson. In 1996, Taylor earned an opportunity to work as an assistant secretary for the then-governor, George Pataki.
She decided to switch careers and moved to the public sector to work for the then-governor. However, after working for Pataki for a while, she moved on to other opportunities.
She worked for ‘Keyspan Energy,’ the fifth-largest distributor of natural gas in the US. She also worked as the chief financial officer at the ‘Long Island Power Authority.’
However, after working there for a brief period of time, she returned to work for Pataki, this time, as his deputy secretary. She continued working for him and was soon given the position of the governor’s chief advisor in the matters of finance and housing.
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Her work got her nominated for the cabinet position of the ‘New York State Superintendent of Banks’ in 2003. Her work as the head of the ‘New York State Banking Department’ was appreciated.
As the ‘Chairwoman of the New York State Banking Board,’ she made several policies to improve the economic situation of low-income communities. After working there for more than 3 years, Taylor moved on from public service to become the managing director at ‘Wolfensohn Fund Management.’
She is also one of the board members of the ‘ACCION International.’ In 2010, Diana was keen on running for the ‘United States Senate’ election in New York.
She later decided not to contest the elections in 2010 but considered running for the same in 2012. In 2011, she was also named to the board of the ‘YMCA of Greater New York.’
She has also served as the director of financial corporations such as ‘Sotheby's,’ ‘Citigroup,’ and ‘Brookfield Properties.’ She added another feather to her cap in 2014, when she was made the vice president of a women-owned New York-based equity firm named ‘Solera Capital.’
Amid all her success, there was also a little controversy in her professional life. She was rumored to have been nominated for the position of the ‘Chairwoman’ and the ‘Chief Executing Officer’ of the ‘Federal Deposit Insurance Company’ by George W Bush.
It was even reported that Taylor had finished her paperwork at ‘The White House’ for the position. However, she was never formally offered the position.
It was believed that due to the agenda of gun control put forward by Michael Bloomberg as the mayor, Bush had to avoid her nomination, most likely, due to pressure from the ‘National Rifle Association.’ After her nomination was withdrawn, Bloomberg skipped his appearance at a ‘White House’ dinner and decided to attend a meeting in the Bronx instead.
She has also served non-profit corporations such as ‘The New York Women's Foundation,’ the ‘Columbia Mailman School of Public Health,’ and her alma mater, ‘Dartmouth.’
Personal Life
Diana Taylor is also known as the former “de facto First Lady of New York City” due to her domestic partner, Michael Bloomberg. They met in 2000 at a ‘Citizens Budget Commission’ event.
They have been together ever since. Thus, Taylor was called the “first unofficial First Lady of New York” during Bloomberg’s mayorship. She accompanied him to social functions and also campaigned with him.
At the time of his second inauguration, Taylor sat with his mother and daughters in the front row. The domestic partners live in Bloomberg's East 79th Street townhouse.
Diana once stated that her life had turned out to be nothing like she had imagined. She wanted to move to New York, get married, move to a suburban area, and have children.
Taylor is a divorcee and has no children of her own.
