Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is best known for his candidacy for the 2008 and 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination. As a successful business person prior to his political ambitions, Romney served as CEO of Bain & Company and was instrumental in bringing the company out of crisis. He also co-founded and led Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became one of the largest firms in the industry.

Romney ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, losing to incumbent Ted Kennedy. He was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, but did not seek reelection in 2006. Romney entered into the 2008 US presidential nominating race but decided to drop out of it soon after some initial setbacks.

The son of the former Governor of Michigan, George W. Romney, Mitt Romney received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University, and later earned Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration joint degrees from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. He served as a Mormon missionary in France between 1966 and 1968.