Tom Tribone
Encyclopedia
Thomas Tribone is the founder and CEO of Guggenheim Global Infrastructure Company (GGIC), a firm dedicated to owning and operating energy and infrastructure projects around the globe. He is also Chairman of the board of directors of a public investment fund, Infrastructure India PLC [LON: IIP.L] He has served as a board member for a number of corporate, industry and academic organizations.
Tribone previously served as Executive Vice President and the number-two executive of the AES Corporation
before he left that position to start his own company, Franklin Park Energy, which was renamed GGIC. Mr. Tribone served as CEO of Franklin Park for several years. Earlier he held general management positions at Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO).
, Tom Tribone advocated for the installation of some of the first acid rain pollution control equipment on industrial power plants. He then turned to increasing industry energy efficiency by the use of improved processes, such as Cogeneration
. As one of the first participants in the global deregulation and privatization of the energy and infrastructure sectors, Mr. Tribone has originated and executed many large, path-finding transactions in the United States and in major emerging markets, such as Mexico, Brazil, India and China.
Overseas, he completed the first direct foreign investment in Brazil’s energy sector after the full restoration of democracy and the election of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as President in the 1990s. He led transactions to open foreign energy markets, such as the first private power plant in Mexico and the first bilateral treaty between Brazil and Argentina for a natural gas pipeline Activities like this and others, such as a power company dedicated to China, helped develop the concept of a global electric power industry.
In testimony before the U.S. Congress, Mr. Tribone observed that technological and market forces were “shrinking” the scope of natural monopoly. This line of thinking led him to believe that there would be benefits in merging regulated monopolies with competitive firms and he conceived and completed the earliest consolidations in the United States between regulated utility companies,
and unregulated firms. This consolidation has been a major, continuing trend.
Tom Tribone is described as a “most creative” new business developer in the book Joy at Work. Author Peter Grose, in his book Power to People, offers an additional description of Tribone’s entrepreneurial contributions.
at Case Western Reserve University
, where Herzberg served as a professor. Partly based on these findings and his own experience, Tribone developed a unique, people-centered management style that has been written about by authors such as Robert H. Waterman Jr. (the co-author of one of the most influential business books ever written, In Search of Excellence). In his book, What America Does Right Waterman has written of Tribone: "But Tom Tribone is one of those people who resist the status quo." In the book, Tribone's ideas were summarized in the title of a chapter called "Everyone a Leader" in which Waterman described some of Tribone's management concepts. One example related how, while leading a unionized manufacturing plant early in his career, Mr. Tribone materially increased manufacturing capability and employee satisfaction through a new combination of specific guidance and light-handed supervision.
In Robert M. Grant's case study, "AES Corporation: Rewriting the Rules of Management," Grant relayed Tom Tribone's ideas on the subject of teams and how they can be, in Tribone's words, "a natural way to get big things done while preserving the dignity of each person."
Electric Power Supply Association
Powerline Communication Association
U.S. Environmental Technology Institute
Argentine American Chamber of Commerce
India Infrastructure PLC [LON:IIL.L]
Brazil U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Case Western Reserve University, Institute for Energy Innovation
Inter-regional Transmission Coordination Forum
AES China Generating Company
Cemig S.A. Board of Directors [NYSE:CIG]
Disco of the Future Forum
Institute for Energy Innovation
Consumers Energy Council of America
International Energy Development Council
Northern Virginia CYO Athletics Board of Directors
Guggenheim Global Infrastructure Company
in Cleveland, Ohio, and both his MBA and Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Duquesne University
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Tribone previously served as Executive Vice President and the number-two executive of the AES Corporation
AES Corporation
AES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that generates and distributes electrical power. The company was founded on January 28, 1981, as Applied Energy Services by Roger Sant from the US Federal Energy Administration and Dennis Bakke from the Office of Management and Budget. AES Corporation is...
before he left that position to start his own company, Franklin Park Energy, which was renamed GGIC. Mr. Tribone served as CEO of Franklin Park for several years. Earlier he held general management positions at Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO).
Business Career
Early on in his career at ARCOARCO
Atlantic Richfield Company is an oil company with operations in the United States as well as in Indonesia, the North Sea, and the South China Sea. It has more than 1,300 gas stations in the western part of the United States. ARCO was originally formed by the merger of East Coast-based Atlantic...
, Tom Tribone advocated for the installation of some of the first acid rain pollution control equipment on industrial power plants. He then turned to increasing industry energy efficiency by the use of improved processes, such as Cogeneration
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
. As one of the first participants in the global deregulation and privatization of the energy and infrastructure sectors, Mr. Tribone has originated and executed many large, path-finding transactions in the United States and in major emerging markets, such as Mexico, Brazil, India and China.
Overseas, he completed the first direct foreign investment in Brazil’s energy sector after the full restoration of democracy and the election of Fernando Henrique Cardoso as President in the 1990s. He led transactions to open foreign energy markets, such as the first private power plant in Mexico and the first bilateral treaty between Brazil and Argentina for a natural gas pipeline Activities like this and others, such as a power company dedicated to China, helped develop the concept of a global electric power industry.
In testimony before the U.S. Congress, Mr. Tribone observed that technological and market forces were “shrinking” the scope of natural monopoly. This line of thinking led him to believe that there would be benefits in merging regulated monopolies with competitive firms and he conceived and completed the earliest consolidations in the United States between regulated utility companies,
and unregulated firms. This consolidation has been a major, continuing trend.
Tom Tribone is described as a “most creative” new business developer in the book Joy at Work. Author Peter Grose, in his book Power to People, offers an additional description of Tribone’s entrepreneurial contributions.
Management Style
As an undergraduate, Tom Tribone was exposed to the research of psychologist Frederick HerzbergFrederick Herzberg
Frederick Irving Herzberg born in Massachusetts was an American psychologist who became one of the most influential names in business management. He is most famous for introducing job enrichment and the Motivator-Hygiene theory...
at Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
, where Herzberg served as a professor. Partly based on these findings and his own experience, Tribone developed a unique, people-centered management style that has been written about by authors such as Robert H. Waterman Jr. (the co-author of one of the most influential business books ever written, In Search of Excellence). In his book, What America Does Right Waterman has written of Tribone: "But Tom Tribone is one of those people who resist the status quo." In the book, Tribone's ideas were summarized in the title of a chapter called "Everyone a Leader" in which Waterman described some of Tribone's management concepts. One example related how, while leading a unionized manufacturing plant early in his career, Mr. Tribone materially increased manufacturing capability and employee satisfaction through a new combination of specific guidance and light-handed supervision.
In Robert M. Grant's case study, "AES Corporation: Rewriting the Rules of Management," Grant relayed Tom Tribone's ideas on the subject of teams and how they can be, in Tribone's words, "a natural way to get big things done while preserving the dignity of each person."
Board Membership
Center for Advancement of Energy MarketsElectric Power Supply Association
Powerline Communication Association
U.S. Environmental Technology Institute
Argentine American Chamber of Commerce
India Infrastructure PLC [LON:IIL.L]
Brazil U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Case Western Reserve University, Institute for Energy Innovation
Inter-regional Transmission Coordination Forum
AES China Generating Company
Cemig S.A. Board of Directors [NYSE:CIG]
Disco of the Future Forum
Institute for Energy Innovation
Consumers Energy Council of America
International Energy Development Council
Northern Virginia CYO Athletics Board of Directors
Guggenheim Global Infrastructure Company
Education
Tom Tribone received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve UniversityCase Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
in Cleveland, Ohio, and both his MBA and Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.