Investment Team

Wendel’s Investment Team is made up of women and men of various and complementary profiles. The members are located in Wendel’s Paris and New York office. They are helped by the experience and network of Wendel’s Senior Advisors.

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Jérôme Michiels
Executive Vice-President
Director of Wendel Growth

Board Member of Bureau Veritas and Scalian

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Adam Reinmann
Managing Director
CEO of Wendel North America

Chairman of the Board of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute

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Harper Mates
Managing Director

Board Member of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute
Member of Wendel’s Supervisory Board as employee representative

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Xavier Lemonnier
Managing Director

Board Member of Stahl and Globeducate

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Constance d’Avout
Director

Board Member of Globeducate

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Stefan Leon
Principal
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William Nottin
Principal
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Elisa Philip
Principal

Board Member of Stahl

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Allison Fong
Senior Associate
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Mathilde Liret
Senior Associate
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Tristan Rougevin-Baville
Senior Associate
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Minjia Zhong
Senior Associate
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Josh Wertzberger
Associate
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Agathe Mathoulin
Associate
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Antoine Vecchione
Associate
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Casey Schneider
Associate
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Jérôme Michiels
Executive Vice-President
Director of Wendel Growth

Board Member of Bureau Veritas and Scalian

Jérôme Michiels is the Group’s Executive Vice-President, responsible for structuring Wendel’s third-party asset management business. He is also Director of Wendel Growth, member of Wendel’s Management Committee and a voting member of the Investment and Development Committee. He is a Board Member of Bureau Veritas and Scalian.

Jérôme joined Wendel at the end of 2006 as Investment Director and was promoted to Director in January 2010. He was appointed Managing Director in January 2012, and joined the Investment Committee at this date. On October 1, 2015, Jérôme was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Wendel Group and also joined the Management Committee. On September 11, 2019, he was promoted to Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

From 2002 to 2006, he was an Associate at the investment fund BC Partners. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group from 1999 to 2002, carrying out strategic missions in Europe, particularly in the fields of distribution, transportation, telecommunications and financial services.

Jérôme is a graduate from HEC.

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Adam Reinmann
Managing Director
CEO of Wendel North America

Chairman of the Board of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute

Adam Reinmann is the CEO and founding member of Wendel’s New York office, which he helped open in 2013.  Adam currently serves as a member of Wendel’s Investment Committee and as Chairman of the Board for ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute, and previously as a Board member for CSP Technologies, Inc. and Allied Universal.

Prior to joining Wendel, Adam worked at Onex Corporation where he was actively involved in several successful private equity investments and also served as Chief of Staff to the CEO of Onex-controlled Celestia, Inc.

Adam began his career at JPMorgan’s investment banking group in New York.

Adam has a B.S. in Management from Binghamton University and an MBA from Columbia University.

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Harper Mates
Managing Director

Board Member of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute
Member of Wendel’s Supervisory Board as employee representative

Harper Mates is a Managing Director. She is a member of the Investment and Development Committee. Harper is a member of Wendel’s Supervisory Board as an employee representative and is a Board Member of ACAMS and the Crisis Prevention Institute. She joined Wendel in 2015.

Prior to joining the Wendel New York office, Harper was a Vice President at MidOcean Partners, a US-based middle market private equity firm where she was responsible for investments in the business services, media and consumer services sectors.

She began her career at J.P. Morgan as an Investment Banking Analyst and then Citi Private Equity as an Associate.

Harper holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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Xavier Lemonnier
Managing Director

Board Member of Stahl and Globeducate

Xavier Lemonnier is a Managing Director in the Investment team. He joined Wendel in 2018 and is based in Paris. He is a Board member of Stahl and a member of the team managing the investment in Bureau Veritas.

Prior to joining Wendel, Xavier worked for nine years at BC Partners, in Paris and most recently London, where he was involved in numerous investments across Europe, in a variety of sectors notably Consumer & Retail and Financial Services. Xavier started his career in 2008 at Merrill Lynch’s investment banking group where he worked on cross-border transactions involving French clients.

Xavier is a graduate of École Polytechnique and ENSAE ParisTech.

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Constance d’Avout
Director

Board Member of Globeducate

Constance d’Avout is a Director on the Investment Team in Paris. She joined Wendel in 2020. She was previously a Board Member of Constantia Flexibles.

Prior to joining us, Constance worked as an Investment Executive at Silverfleet Capital in Paris for two years.

She started her career as an Equity Research Analyst at Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux. Then, Constance worked for six years in London, as an M&A Analyst for the investment bank Moelis & Company and as an Associate for EQT Partners.

Constance holds an MSc in Management from EM Lyon Business School.

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Stefan Leon
Principal

Stefan Leon is a Principal in Wendel’s New York office. He joined Wendel in 2022.

Stefan began his career as an Analyst at BB&T Capital Markets before working for Raymond James Financial, Inc.

He then joined ACON Investments LLC in Washington, D.C. as an Analyst and then as an Associate before being promoted to Principal, a position he has held since 2020.

Stefan holds a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Finance from the University of Maryland.

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William Nottin
Principal

William Nottin is a Principal on the Investment Team in Paris. He joined Wendel in 2018.  

After an internship at Total Energie Gaz as a financial controller, he had a series of experiences as an Analyst: first in London for Tikehau Investment Management, then back in Paris at Technip and Artemis – Financière Pinault.

William graduated from ESCP Europe in 2017, with a specialisation in Entrepreneurship.

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Elisa Philip
Principal

Board Member of Stahl

Elisa Philip is a Principal on the Investment Team in Paris. She joined Wendel in 2018. She is a Board Member of Stahl.

Prior to joining Wendel, Elisa worked at the Estin & Co as a Strategy Consultant. In previous years she completed internships at Quadrille Capital, Ardian and BNP Paribas.

Elisa holds a degree in Management from HEC.

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Allison Fong
Senior Associate

Allison Fong is a Senior Associate on the Investment Team in the New York office. She joined Wendel in 2020. 

Prior to joining Wendel, Allison worked for three years as an Investment Banking Analyst for RBC Capital Markets in New York.

Allison holds a Bachelor in Science in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University.

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Mathilde Liret
Senior Associate

Mathilde Liret is part of the Investment Team in Paris as a Senior Associate. She joined Wendel in 2021.

Prior to joining Wendel, Mathilde worked for three and a half years at Rothschild & Cie in Paris, first as an Investment Banking Analyst Intern, then as an Investment Banking Analyst and finally as an Investment Banking Associate. She also completed two internships, working as a Junior Financial Controller at LVMH and then at Carrefour.

Mathilde holds a master’s degree in Finance and Strategy from Sciences Po Paris.

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Tristan Rougevin-Baville
Senior Associate

Tristan Rougevin-Baville is part of the Investment Team in Paris as a Senior Associate. He joined Wendel in 2021.

Prior to joining Wendel, Tristan was a Consultant at Bain & Company for 3 years. He also completed several internships, first in the Global Financial Advisory team at Rothschild & Cie in Paris, then at Zalora Thailand (investment from Rocket Internet) in Bangkok as a Business Analyst and finally as a Private Equity Analyst at Cinven.

Tristan graduated from HEC and holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne.

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Minjia Zhong
Senior Associate

Minjia Zhong is a Senior Associate on the Investment Team in the the New York office. She joined Wendel in 2020.

Prior to joining Wendel, Minjia worked as a Research Analyst for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington and Brussels. She also worked for two years as an Associate Consultant for Bain & Company in Los Angeles.

Minjia holds a B.S in Mathematical and Computational Sciences with honors in International Security Studies and a B.A in French Studies from Stanford University.

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Josh Wertzberger
Associate

Josh Wertzberger is an Associate on the Investment Team in the New York office. He joined Wendel in 2021.

Prior to joining Wendel, Josh worked at EY-Parthenon as an Associate for more than 2 years, and was previously the Chief Investment Officer and co-founder of Colonnade Capital Partners, a student-created fund which he was involved in for almost 3 years.

Josh holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce (Finance and Management) from the University of Virginia.

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Agathe Mathoulin
Associate

Agathe Mathoulin is an Associate on the Investment Team in the Paris office. She joined Wendel in 2023.

Prior to joining Wendel, Agathe worked for two years at MBO+ as a Private Equity Analyst and one year as an M&A Analyst at Lazard, which she had initially joined for an internship. Agathe had previously completed two financial audit internships at Brookfield Asset Management in London and PWC in Paris. She was also an Analyst intern at Coty in New York and at PJT Partners in London.

Agathe holds a Master’s degree in Finance from ESCP Business School.

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Antoine Vecchione
Associate

Antoine Vecchione is an Associate on the Investment Team in the Paris office. He joined Wendel in 2023.

Prior to joining Wendel, Antoine worked for four and a half years at Rothschild & Cie in Paris, first as an M&A Analyst Intern, then as an M&A Analyst and finally as an M&A Associate. He also completed two internships, working as an M&A Analyst Intern at Crédit Agricole CIB in Paris and then at Nomura in London.

Antoine holds a Master of Sciences in Management from ESSEC Business School.

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Casey Schneider
Associate

Casey Schneider is an Associate on the Investment Team in the New York office. He joined Wendel in 2023.

Prior to joining Wendel North America, Casey worked as an investment banking Analyst for two years for the group Lazard Frères & Co. in New York.

Casey holds a B.S in Engineering with a specialization in Mechanical engineering from Duke University in Durham, NC.

Operating Partners
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Jérôme Richard
Operating Partner
Co-Head of the Operating team

Observer of the Board of Scalian

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David Varet
Operating Partner
Co-Head of the Operating team

Board Member of Stahl

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Maud Funaro
Operating Director

Board Member of Crisis Prevention Institute

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Michel Tournier
IT Operating Partner
IT Strategy and Digital Transformation Wendel SE
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Jérôme Richard
Operating Partner
Co-Head of the Operating team

Observer of the Board of Scalian

Jérôme Richard is Operating Partner. He joined Wendel in 2019. Jérôme is an observer of the Board of Scalian, and a member of the team managing the investment in Bureau Veritas. He was previously a Board Member of CPI, Constantia Flexibles and Cromology.

Alongside the investment team, he works closely with the senior management of our portfolio companies.

Jérôme began his career at Boston Consulting Group during eight years in France and in the USA, developing expertise in operational transformation and turnaround, mainly in the healthcare and industrial sectors. He was also the recruiting Director of the Paris office. In 2010, Jérôme joined Schneider Electric as a Vice President and took-on leadership positions in purchasing then in sales & business development. In 2016, Jérôme was appointed CEO of John Paul (sold afterwards to Accor), a leading concierge services start-up supported by cutting edge technology to help brands reinventing customer experience.

Jérôme graduated from CentraleSupélec in 2002 (Master of Sciences).

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David Varet
Operating Partner
Co-Head of the Operating team

Board Member of Stahl

David Varet joined Wendel as an Operating Partner. David is based in Paris and reports to the Executive Board. He joined Wendel in 2021. He is a Board Member of Stahl.

Alongside the investment team, he works closely with the senior management of our portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Wendel, David was the General Manager of Homebox in Paris for 8 years. He started his career as a Senior Technology Consultant in the IT Division of Capgemini. Then, David worked for the group PSA for 5 years, first as an International Project Manager in logistics and distribution and then as a Worldwide Pricing Manager (parts and accessories). He then worked for 5 years at Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm which he left as a Principal.

David is a graduate of École Polytechnique and École des Mines de Paris.

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Maud Funaro
Operating Director

Board Member of Crisis Prevention Institute

Maud Funaro has joined the investment team as an Operating Director in 2023. She reports to Jérôme Richard and David Varet, co-heads of the Operating team. She is a Board Member of Crisis Prevention Institute.

Maud brings to the team and our portfolio’s companies a strong experience in digital transformation.

Maud began her career in 2005 as an economist at the French Treasury Department. In 2010, she joined the Boston Consulting Group before becoming General Manager of Madame Aime, a lingerie brand that came out of Lejaby. From 2016 to 2021, she worked as Strategy, Digital and Innovation Director for E. Leclerc, reporting to Michel-Edouard Leclerc, in order to accelerate the group’s data and e-commerce performance. She joined the Printemps group early 2021 as Chief Transformation Officer, as a member of the executive committee, to lead the group’s evolution towards omnichannel and personalized customer relationship.

Maud is a graduate of HEC, Sciences Po Paris, ENSAE Paris and the London School of Economics (LSE). She also holds a PhD in Economics from the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS).

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Michel Tournier
IT Operating Partner
IT Strategy and Digital Transformation Wendel SE

Michel Tournier is IT Operating Partner, IT Strategy and Digital Transformation Manager Wendel SE. He joined Wendel in 2019.

Prior to joining Wendel, Michel was Head of IT – Technology Core Solution Group | EMEA/APAC at Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services.

Michel has over 25 years’ experience in Technology management across several industry sectors. He began his career in 1996 at Cofidis, where he participated in the establishment of subsidiaries in Portugal and Argentina for 5 years.

Then, after 3 years in Louis Vuitton in Latin America as MIS Manager and several roles handled for the next 8 years at Shiseido group, he joined ANOVO as Group CIO late 2012. After 3 years of intense centralization, optimization and restructuring, Ingram Micro acquired ANOVO.

Wendel Growth
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Christopher Witherspoon
Leader of the fund investment activity of Wendel Growth
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Antoine Izsak
Head of Growth Equity at Wendel Growth
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Victoire Laurenty
Principal at Wendel Growth
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Diane Schiller
Associate at Wendel Growth
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Christopher Witherspoon
Leader of the fund investment activity of Wendel Growth

Christopher Witherspoon is part of the Investment Team in Paris as the Leader of the fund investment activity of Wendel Growth. He joined Wendel in 2021.

Prior to joining Wendel, Chris was a Senior Investment Manager at UK-based fund of funds, VenCap International PLC in Oxford. He was also part of the British Business Bank’s venture capital team as Senior Investment Manager, and a management consultant with KPMG in London.

Chris holds an MBA in Financial Management from Manchester University Business School. He also holds an MA in Management from Durham University Business School.

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Antoine Izsak
Head of Growth Equity at Wendel Growth

Antoine Izsak is part of the Investment Team in Paris as Head of Growth Equity at Wendel Growth. He joined Wendel in 2022.

Prior to joining Wendel, Antoine worked as a Director for seven years in the Large Venture fund of Bpifrance. He began his career at Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners and then worked at L.E.K. Consulting where he gained experience in strategy consulting.

Antoine holds a Master’s degree in Software Development from Supélec Engineering School as well as a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Paris-Dauphine.

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Victoire Laurenty
Principal at Wendel Growth

Victoire Laurenty is a Principal working for the Wendel Growth within the Investment team in Paris.

Prior to joining Wendel, Victoire worked at L.E.K. Consulting as a Senior Associate Consultant for almost three years and then as an Investment Manager in the Growth team at Ardian. She then worked as a Principal at Kerala Ventures until 2020 and at Cathay Innovation for two and a half years.

Victoire is a graduate of Telecom ParisTech and holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

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Diane Schiller
Associate at Wendel Growth

Diane Schiller is an Associate working for the Wendel Growth within the investment team in Paris.

Prior to joining Wendel, Diane worked for two and a half years at Rothschild & Cie in Paris as a Private Equity Analyst.

Diane holds a triple Master in Business Management in Global Economic Transformation & Technology (GETT), in partnership with UC Berkeley in San Francisco and SKK Graduate School of Business in Seoul.

Senior Advisors Wendel
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Claude Ehlinger
Senior Advisor

Board Member of Bureau Veritas

Chairman of the Board of Stahl

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Mel Immergut
Senior Advisor

Board Member of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute

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Gary Appel
Senior Advisor
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Didier Michaud-Daniel
Senior Advisor
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Aldo Cardoso
Senior Advisor
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Claude Ehlinger
Senior Advisor

Board Member of Bureau Veritas

Chairman of the Board of Stahl

Claude Ehlinger is a Senior Advisor since 2019. He joined Wendel in 2016. Claude is a Board Member of Bureau Veritas and Chairman of the Board of Stahl.

Claude is a Board Member of Oranje Nassau BV in the Netherlands, as well as a Board Member of Trief Corporation SA and Winvest Conseil. He used to be a member of the Investment Team and CEO of the Oranje-Nassau Group.

Claude was previously deputy CEO of Louis Dreyfus Company. He has been appointed interim CEO of Louis Dreyfus from June 2014 to October 2015.He joined Louis Dreyfus Company in 2007 as Chief Financial Officer after serving three years as Group CFO at Eutelsat.

Prior to this he was Regional Controller of Cap Gemini, Group CFO of CCMX (1999-2003) and Managing Director of Finacor (1987-1999), a large brokerage company in Europe. He began his career in 1985 at Thomson Group.

He is a graduate of HEC.

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Mel Immergut
Senior Advisor

Board Member of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute

Mel Immergut is a Senior Advisor in Wendel’s New York office. He joined Wendel in 2013. Mel is a Board Member of ACAMS and Crisis Prevention Institute.

Prior to joining Wendel, Mel served as the Chairman of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP for 18 years and was a partner in the law firm’s Corporate Department. He serves as Vice Chair of the Legal Aid Society and on the Columbia Law School Dean’s Council and the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors. Mel also serves as executive advisor to venture capital firm Marker LLC and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a member of the United States European Command Advisory Panel and a former member of the United States Southern Command Advisory Panel. Mel is Vice Chairman of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and served on the Defense Business Board of the United States Department of Defense.

He is a recipient of The Jewish Theological Seminary Simon H. Rifkind Award, the Legal Aid Society’s Servant of Justice Award and the Fund for Modern Courts John J. McCloy Memorial Award.

Mel received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and his JD and MBA from Columbia University.

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Gary Appel
Senior Advisor

Gary Appel is a Senior Advisor in Wendel’s New York office. He joined Wendel in 2022.

He also serves as a Senior Advisor to Investcorp International Inc., a global alternative asset manager, which he joined in 2013 as Vice Chairman of their North American Private Equity business.

Prior to joining Investcorp, he was Vice Chairman of Castle Harlan, Inc., a global middle market private equity funds manager. Before joining Castle Harlan, he was Vice Chairman of Glencoe Capital, Ltd., a Chicago-based middle market private equity funds manager. While at Glencoe he co-founded and managed one of the first independent co-investment funds created for a state retirement system.

In the late 1990s Gary was a Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns, Inc. Prior to that for 17 years, he was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. serving as a Managing Director and a founding partner of DLJ Merchant Banking and a member of DLJ Merchant Banking’s Board of Directors.

Throughout his career, Gary has served on the boards of directors of numerous corporations both public and private across a variety of industries, as well as several not-for-profit institutions. He currently serves on the board of Ibexis Life and Annuity Company. Additionally, he serves as an Executive-in-Residence and a member of the Advisory Board of the Private Equity Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

Senior Advisors Wendel Growth
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Jonathan Benhamou
Senior Advisor Wendel Growth

ex-CEO and co-Founder of People doc and co-CEO of Resilience

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Renaud Deraison
Senior Advisor Wendel Growth

Co-Founder of Tenable

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Nick Hernandez
Senior Advisor Wendel Growth

CEO and Founder of 360 Learning

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Jean-Luc Robert
Senior Advisor Wendel Growth

CEO of Kyriba

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