Michael Fingleton

Michael Fingleton
Born	1938 (age 78–79) Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo
Residence	Rathmichael, Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Retired CEO of Irish Nationwide Building Society.
Salary	€2.4 million (2008)
Net worth	€27.6 million (2007)
Spouse(s)	Eileen
Children	Michael Fingleton Jnr.

Michael Fingleton is a former chief executive of Irish Nationwide Building Society. He joined the building society in 1971 and retired in April 2009 as the effects of the 2008–2012 Irish banking crisis became apparent. He is known as "Fingers" in the banking community.

Michael Fingleton was born in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo in 1938, the son of a local Garda. He attended St Nathy's school in Ballaghaderreen, and in later years UCD, TCD and Kings Inns. He attended a seminary, but quit before taking his vows.

In the early Sixties, he joined Allied Irish Finance and simultaneously began studying commerce. On earning his degree, he went to the Dairy Disposal Agency, a state body that took over defunct creameries in the west of Ireland. During this period, he studied at night to become a chartered accountant.

Following this, he joined aid agency Concern and from 1969 he spent a number of years organising food supplies to the Republic of Biafra, the short-lived secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria. He eventually became chairman of Concern.

In 1971, he became the secretary of the Irish Independent Building Society, founded in 1873. At the time he was not a homeowner. The building society had five employees and assets of €2 million. In his first year at the helm, the company made a profit of just €12,000 and Fingleton had to wait three years for his first company car.

In 1973 he was called to the bar, the same year that Dick Spring, Michael McDowell and Adrian Hardiman were also called, although he never practised as a barrister.

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