Paul Deighton, Baron Deighton

Deighton began his career at Bank of America and moved on to Security Pacific National Bank, where he specialised in corporate banking.[3] In 1983, he joined investment bank Goldman Sachs, initially based in London.[2] He spent two years at their New York office from 1994, where he was joint Head of Controllers.[4][5] In 1996 he returned to London, where he was promoted to Head of European Operations and became a partner in the firm.[5] In 2000 he became their Chief Operating Officer for Europe.[2][5]

Deighton was appointed CEO of LOCOG, announced on 19 December 2005.[6] Deighton commented that it was "the only job I would have considered leaving Goldman Sachs for".[6] He has been credited with contributing to the success of the London Olympics.[7][8][9] His approach included early winning of sponsorships,[10] and high levels of staff training.[11]

In September 2012 Deighton was appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron as junior minister in HM Government as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, with effect from January 2013.[7] The announcement stated that he would lead on infrastructure and economic delivery, with responsibility for implementing the Government's National Infrastructure Plan and supporting the Culture Secretary with the 2012 Olympics legacy.[12] The delay in his taking up the appointment was necessary to allow him to complete his duties at LOCOG.[7][13]

To make him accountable to Parliament, he was created a life peer on 1 November 2012 as Baron Deighton, of Carshalton in the County of Surrey,[14] and introduced in the House of Lords the same day.[1]

Deighton was succeeded as Commercial Secretary to the Treasury by Jim O'Neill in May 2015.[15]

In March 2018 it was announced that Deighton would become chairman of the board of The Economist Group.

On 19 April 2020 when it was announced that the death toll in the UK alone of the COVID-19 pandemic had reached 15,000 over the three months precedent, Deighton was appointed "PPE tsar" by Boris Johnson, who himself was recovering from a bout in the intensive care unit with the disease.[16]