100 West 33rd Street Suite 1007 New York. NY 10001
212.760.2410
info@authenticbrandsgroup.com
James Salter - Chairman & CEO of Authentic Brands Group
Kenny Finkelstein - Vice-Chairman
Paul Cohen - Managing Partner & COO
Terri L. DiPaolo - General Counsel
Kevin Clarke - Chief Financial Officer
- Senior Vice President, Business Development
Jordan Goodman - Vice President, Business Development
James Ling - Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management
Jim Gibb - Creative Director
Please click on a leader’s name in the list above to read their career highlights and biography.
James Salter – Chairman & CEO of Authentic Brands Group
For more than 20 years, Jamie Salter has consistently generated upper quartile returns for investors in numerous lifestyle brand related activities. Jamie's success encompasses the full spectrum of business activities.
Brands that Jamie has controlled or partnered in include Ride Snowboards, TapouT, Polaroid, House of Marley (Bob Marley), Marilyn Monroe, GSI Commerce, Sharper Image, Airwalk, Tommy Armour Golf, Caribbean Joe, Halston, Bombay, Ellen Tracy Sims, Vision Street Wear, Sinister, Iron Star, Hitman, SilverStar, Linens 'N Things, Lamar, LTD, Ultra Wheels and Ram. He was innovative and instrumental in adjoining talent, Sarah Jessica Parker to Halston and Lady Gaga to Polaroid as Creative Directors to each Brand.
Jamie has completed well over $4 billion of brand-related investments which have included both growth companies and turnarounds. His record of outstanding performance is a clear demonstration of his visionary ability to recognize value and seize opportunity.
Kenny Finkelstein, CA – CEO, Knight's Bridge Capital; Authentic Brands Group Board Member
Kenny Finkelstein, CA, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Knight’s Bridge which he and Counsel Corporation founded in November 2006. Mr. Finkelstein has a long and successful history of investing in, providing ongoing management, guidance and mentoring of portfolio entities, and delivering effective exit strategies.
Prior to founding Knight’s Bridge, Mr. Finkelstein co-founded and managed Gen-X Sports Inc., a diversified sporting goods company that owned multiple brands, including Lamar, LTD Snowboards, Tommy Armour and Ram Golf, Tear Drop and Zebra Putters, Ultrawheels in-line skates, Hespeler hockey, and Volant Ski Company. Mr. Finkelstein was also a co-founder of Lifestyle Brands Ltd., a company whose strategy was to acquire, for the purposes of creating a royalty stream, brands that needed revitalization. The company was successful in creating a significant royalty stream and was sold to Payless Shoes.
As CEO of Knight’s Bridge, Mr. Finkelstein, applies his extensive expertise in working closely with management of its portfolio companies, helping them formulate and meet proper targets and goals.
Paul Cohen – Managing Partner & COO
Paul has over 15 years of operating experience steering product design, development and operational efficiency plans that drive double-digit growth.
Prior to joining Authentic Brands Group, Paul was a Management Consultant for Hilco Consumer Capital related to ongoing initiatives and future North American expansion efforts – advising management on product development, sourcing, marketing, licensing and brand management strategies.
He most recently led the deal team that completed the sale of Tommy Armour / RAM golf company to The Sports Authority. In his capacity as Chief Operating Officer for Marley & Co., Paul has concluded upwards of $38M of guaranteed revenue with best-in-class license partners for Bob Marley.
Paul served as V.P. Operations at Forzani Group Ltd, Wholesale Division implementing operational, manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies. Paul managed the direction of all product manufacturing of brands such as Sims, Lamar, LTD, Hespeler, Ultra Wheels, Rage, Dukes™, Airwalk and Vision Street Wear.
Paul's brand experience has touched many segments of retail distribution from luxury to mass market. Paul brings knowledge in acquisitions, development, licensing and the strategy of branded consumer intellectual property in multiple verticals and consumer product categories.
Terri L. DiPaolo – General Counsel
Terri's legal background includes in-house counsel for Lion's Gate Films and Bob Marley music, as well as managing her private practice and working for premier entertainment law firms such as Fischback, Perlstein & Lieberman and Manatt LP, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.
Terri graduated form Northeastern University with a BA in Political Science and obtained her JD from Whittier Law School. She is admitted to practice law in California and New York.
Kevin Clarke – Chief Financial Officer
Kevin's investment banking experience includes over twenty years working with companies in a variety of industry sectors. Most of his investment banking experience was spent at Bear Stearns & Co., where he was a Senior Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Mergers & Acquisitions. Most recently, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Kos Pharmaceuticals, a publicly-traded specialty pharmaceutical company that was sold to Abbott during his tenure for $4.3B.
Kevin holds an MBA from Cornell University and a BA from Le Moyne College where he served as a member of the Board of Trustees.
Noah Gelbart – Senior Vice President Business Development
Noah brings over a decade of new business development and sales to ABG. He served as national sales manager at Forzani Group Ltd, Wholesale Division, where he was responsible for global brand acquisition and sales. While serving as the director of sales for one of Canada’s leading uniform and promotional products companies, Noah acquired and managed the promotional business for Rogers Communications, Inc.
Noah holds a BA from The University of Western Ontario and a degree in Marketing with honors.
Jordan Goodman – Vice President Business Development
Jordan joined ABG in January of 2011. Prior to joining ABG, Jordan held Vice President of Business Development titles at both Hilco Consumer Capital and portfolio company Polaroid®. Jordan has to date generated in excess of $100 million dollars in royalties and $1 billion dollars in retail sales. Jordan holds a degree from the University of Western Ontario.
Nancy Carlson – Vice President Marketing
Nancy brings over fifteen years of brand-building, marketing and communications experience from Burton Snowboards, DC Shoes, Shaun White Enterprises and Paul Frank Industries to ABG. Most recently as the director of marketing for Paul Frank Industries, she managed the company's transition to a licensed brand and it's introduction to national media and mass-market distribution.
At Burton Snowboards, she led communications at the company's first west coast office and managed the brand's events and entertainment through athlete and celebrity endorsements. She managed Shaun White's post Olympic media tour in 2006, garnering high-visibility exposure for both the athlete and the brand.
Nancy graduated from The University of Miami with a BA in English.
James Ling – Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management
With over fifteen years of marketing and brand development experience in the young men's and junior's sportswear industry, James comes to ABG from Mark Ecko Enterprises, Kids Headquarters and Southpole Clothing.
At Marc Ecko Enterprises, James served as vice president of marketing for all brands: Ecko Unltd., Marc Ecko Cut & Sew, Avirex, Zoo York and G-Unit Clothing. He launched the licensing collaboration with Star Wars for Cut & Sew and Ed Hardy for Avirex. His marketing initiatives included lisensed partnerships with Skechers, Timex and Kids Headquarters. James was instrumental in the rollout of Ecko's retail division, as well as the introduction of Ecko to the mixed martial arts and motorsports industries.
As marketing director for Southpole, James aligned celebrity endorsements that played a key role in the company's growth from $40M to over $300M within five years.
James holds a BA in Journalism with a concentration in advertising from Northeastern University.
Jim Gibb – Creative Director
Jim's multidisciplinary creative background includes over twelve years experience with some of New York's top advertising and design agencies, including Lloyd and Co., Grey, Deutsch, studio 65 and, most recently, mcgarrybowen – Ad Age's 2009 Agency of the Year. At mcgarrybowen, Jim launched Reebok's global Jukari campaign – the first in a series of long-term initiatives with Circque du Soleil. He created the first campaign for Reebok's EasyTone Shoe – the company's most successful launch in the past five years.
Jim graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Graphic Design.
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