EC M&A competitors

Kenneth M. Jacobs (born 1957/1958) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Lazard since November 16, 2009. Jacobs joined Lazard in 1988. Jacobs was named a Lazard Partner in 1991, and in 2002 he was named Deputy Chairman and Head of North America for Lazard. In this role, he focused on enhancing the firm's business by entering into new markets and adding new practices, such as restructuring, strategic capital structure advice, and private fund advisory. He also focused on bringing in new staff specializing in energy, technology and healthcare.

Wesley Robert Edens (born October 30, 1961) is an American businessman and private equity investor. He is the co-founder of Fortress Investment Group and founder of New Fortress Energy. Edens is co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team franchise based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, along with Marc Lasry. He also owns the eSports team FlyQuest and, along with Nassef Sawiris, became majority shareholder of the English Premier League club Aston Villa in July 2018.

Robert Steers, Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Steers, founded the firm with Martin Cohen in 1986 as the first investment advisor dedicated to real estate securities. He serves on the Advisory Committee for the International Monetary Fund’s Staff Retirement Plan. At his alma mater of Georgetown University, Mr. Steers is Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Steers Center for Global Real Estate and is a member of the Endowment Investment Committee. From 1982 to 1986, he was Chief Investment Officer of National Securities and Research Corporation, where he and Mr. Cohen organized and managed the first real estate securities mutual fund in the United States. Prior to that, Mr. Steers was an analyst and portfolio manager of Citibank’s Emerging Growth Stock Fund. Mr. Steers holds a BS from Georgetown University and an MBA from George Washington University. He is based in New York.

I love building early stage companies. Whether it was during my 11 years as a venture capitalist at an early stage venture fund, as founder and president of a venture-backed startup, or managing director of a BDC structuring venture debt to later stage companies, I've always been passionate about building great companies. Now, I'm in the incredible position to lead a team of investment professionals that drive innovation and entrepreneurship in the the Philadelphia region. Each year our group invests in more than 50 early stage companies and provides seed capital to another 50 companies. Our internal investment expertise includes technology, life sciences, healthcare, and physical sciences. I can honestly say that I don't think there is an organization anywhere that does more for innovations and entrepreneurship in their region.