James B. Farley

James B. Farley (November 1, 1930 – January 20, 2007) was an American business executive who served as head of the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton before becoming the head of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York.

Early life Farley was born on November 1, 1930, and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His mother died when he was very young and his father, who owned a small grocery store, was in and out of hospitals. He had two sisters, Bernie ( Farley) Carroll and Roseanne ( Farley) Sansoni. While president, he took Booz Allen private and changed the firm's focus on a few consulting areas, primarily technology, financial services and general management consulting, while introducing a "collaborative management style to a firm that had always been run autocratically." He was named chairman and chief executive a year later in 1989. In 1990, he relinquished the presidency to MONY's former chief financial officer, Michael I. Roth, a certified public accountant and lawyer. He served as chairman until July 1993, and stayed on as a director until 2003 after it was announced that MONY was to be acquired by AXA Financial, Inc.

Personal life In February 1952, Farley was married to his high school sweetheart, Mary Williams (1932-2014). Together, they were the parents of two sons and two daughters, all of whom have M.B.A.'s, James J. Farley (who married Julia), Mickey Farley (who married artist Robin Austin), Connie Farley (who married Tim O'Connor), and J. Scott Farley, who married Sue.