Jay S. Fishman

Jay S. Fishman (Born November 4, 1952, in New York, New York) is employed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Travelers Companies (TRV). Fishman served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Travelers Companies for 11 years prior to stepping down in December of 2015 following a diagnosis of ALS.

Education

Fishman received a master's degree in accounting from the Wharton School of Business and graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

From 1989 to October 2001, Fishman held several key executive posts at Commercial Credit Corp., Primerica, Travelers, and Citigroup.

Fishman has served as Chairman and CEO of TRV since a merger between The St. Paul Companies, Inc. (where Fishman had been Chairman, CEO, and President) and Travelers Companies first formed TRV in April 2004.

Prior to October 2001, Fishman served as Chairman, CEO, and President of The Travelers Insurance Group, Inc., (which became Travelers Property Casualty Corp. in 2002 and merged with a subsidiary of St. Paul in 2004) and as CEO and President of Travelers Property Casualty Corp. (which became Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc. in 2002) also serving as Chairman of Holdings from March 2000 to January 2001.

Jays Foods

Jays Foods, Inc. is a manufacturer of snack products including potato chips, popcorn and pretzels. Jays Foods was founded in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois and is currently a subsidiary of Snyder's of Hanover. Operating in several Midwestern states, Jays Foods' potato chips and popcorn maintain significant shares of their respective markets. Jays Foods filed for bankruptcy in October, 2007, and permanently closed its Chicago manufacturing plant on December 5, 2007.

History

Leonard Japp, Sr. began selling pretzels from a truck in 1927. The business grew to feature a potato chip recipe made by Japp’s wife, Eugenia. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Japp found a new business partner and began selling the chips under the brand name “Mrs. Japp’s Potato Chips”. The 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent anti-Japanese sentiment, however, led to a negative connotation towards the word “Jap” in the United States. The chips were consequently rebranded to “Jays Potato Chips” to avoid the sound-alike name, and the company became Jays Foods, Inc.