Executive Officers

Thane Ritchie, 55
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Ritchie has extensive experience in both public and private markets in all phases of company growth including seed capital, growth capital, secondary markets, mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), trade sales and public exits. Mr. Ritchie has participated in early stage/venture funding and investing in the pre-IPO stages of companies such as Facebook, Cambridge Quantum Computing, Twitter, eHarmony, Spotify, Pinterest, and StubHub. He also has provided private capital solutions to Fortune 100 companies like Shell Oil and Allstate. Mr. Ritchie has significant experience in vetting companies for potential acquisitions and has developed several innovative funding models. He has over a decade of experience in the SPAC marketplace specifically in private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) transactions, warrants and the de-SPAC process. Mr. Ritchie has served on multiple private company boards and currently is CEO and sits on the board of Global Investment Capital Corp and serves as the Chairman of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Ritchie attended both Fullerton College and Duke University and graduated with a B.A. from Wheaton College. Mr. Ritchie was selected to serve on the Board of Directors due to his extensive business experience and knowledge of the SPAC marketplace.

Paul Wolfe, 58
President

Mr. Wolfe has deep experience in both public and private markets and in all phases of company growth including seed capital, growth capital, secondary markets, M&A, trade sales, PIPE transactions, warrants, and public exits. As a Principal for over a decade at Ritchie Capital Management, a global multi- strategy alternative investment platform, Mr. Wolfe managed its private equity / venture capital, real estate, energy, and insurance teams. Additionally, Mr. Wolfe is the former COO of Mission Measurement, a leading strategy advisory firm recognized globally for its leadership in the design, measurement, and evaluation of the investments of corporations, foundations, and governments targeting a social impact. Mr. Wolfe currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Wolfe also worked at GE Capital, where he served as Deal Manager for several GE investments in telecommunications in Latin America and Europe. Post-transaction service included appointment as Board Director and the Integration Manager (Interim COO) for several GE investments in the region. At Bain & Company, Mr. Wolfe served as a strategy consultant in the U.S. and Brazil. He holds a B.A. from Williams College and a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Nathan Smith, 36
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Smith brings extensive leadership experience in operations, fund management, financial analysis, and strategic consulting across a number of industries. Mr. Smith serves as the Managing Director and CFO of 60 Degrees, a provider of strategic financial capital and human resources to alternative investment funds, family offices, and their underlying portfolio companies. 60 Degrees Group has operations in the United States, Cayman Islands, Canada and Malta. Mr. Smith serves on the board of a number of the portfolio companies, both public and private, including those specializing in technology, real estate and financial sectors. Mr. Smith also runs a successful real estate development operation specializing in residential and multi-use sites within the Cayman Islands and midwestern United States. Mr. Smith currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Prior to 60 Degrees Group, Mr. Smith was the Managing Director of a private fiduciary company providing independent directorships and trustee services to alternative investment funds and portfolio companies. He was also the Senior Vice President of a privately held, full-service bank overseeing analysis and allocation. Prior to his time at the private bank, Mr. Smith was a manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers, focusing on providing strategic services to alternative investment funds. He also spent four years as an Active Duty Airman in the United States Air Force where he specialized in deploying information technology in forward locations and intrusion detection / penetration testing. Mr. Smith is involved with several charitable organizations, notably serving on the board of the Cayman Islands chapter of 100 Men Who Give a Damn. Mr. Smith is a licensed CPA in the State of New Jersey, holds the TEP designation from the Society of Trust and Estate Professionals and received an M.B.A. in Finance from Monmouth University.

Sam Collins, 55
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Collins is currently the CEO/President of Toronto-based Creation Wealth Capital. Mr. Collins and his partners founded Creation Wealth Capital in 2018 with an eye on providing both private and corporate clients innovative alternative investment products alongside with traditional investment services. Prior to founding Creation Wealth Capital, Mr. Collins was Executive Vice President / Head of Wealth Management at Echelon Wealth Partners, one of Canada’s preeminent independent investment dealers. Under Mr. Collins guidance, Echelon expanded its assets under administration by nearly 500%. Mr. Collins has also facilitated four mergers/acquisitions in the Canadian wealth management space totaling several billion in assets under administration. Throughout his 30-year career in the financial services industry, Mr. Collins has held senior management roles for some of the larger North American firms such as Merrill Lynch and CIBC as well as starting up two smaller independent boutique investment dealers. His diverse and unique background includes sales, sales management, operations, compliance, product development, as well as several executive management positions. On the personal side, Mr. Collins has been and is still currently involved in Special Olympics Canada, Challenge League Sports as has sat on many boards and committees with the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC).

Andy Lester, 67
Chief Risk Officer and Director Nominee

Mr. Lester has over 40 years of experience building and managing businesses and both training and hiring the individuals within the business units. His background is diverse having started in public accounting, working as an analyst then a manager for Fortune 500 companies before moving to Wall Street. He, along with his brother, built a 10 person team at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (“DLJ”) that specialized in providing research coverage to hedge funds, family offices, and managing retail capital for 17 years. After DLJ was sold to Credit Suisse, their team moved to ABN-AMRO where he was Managing Director and Co-Head of Hedge Fund sales and research. After, he was COO of Sigma Capital, a division of SAC Capital Advisors and later a Portfolio Manager at the firm, responsible for investing in syndicate deals globally. He was COO of Convector Capital and Co-founder of two hedge funds. He was Co-Head Origination & Investments at ShareNett. Mr. Lester currently serves as a director and the Chief Risk Officer of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. He earned a B.S. in Accounting from Brooklyn College, a M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany and is a certified public accountant (“CPA”) in New York State. Mr. Lester was selected to serve on the Board of Directors due to his diverse business experience.

Josh Lewis, 48
Chief Information Officer

Mr. Lewis has 25 years of experience evaluating, implementing, designing and building software, data analytics, and machine learning systems for leading organizations in several industries around the world, including financial services, health care, oil and gas, natural resources, utilities, government, and construction. As CEO of Level49, a consulting group, he advises investment funds on software, AI, and analytics companies, testifies as an expert witness in technology litigation, and provides technology services. He also teaches graduate students at the Center for Technology Management at Columbia University, where he is a mentor. Mr. Lewis currently serves as the Chief Information Officer for Aries I Acquisition Corporation.Prior to Level49, he was the Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”) at Enstoa, a global technology consulting firm serving the capital projects industry. Responsible for technology strategy, product development and project delivery, he led the firm’s growth from its inception to become a leading technical integrator in its space. Previously, he led data engineering and analytics at Davidson Kempner Capital Management, an alternative asset management firm, and was a Director in the Investment Banking and Leveraged Finance Division at CIBC World Markets, a global investment bank. Mr. Lewis received a B.A. in Psychology from UC San Diego, where he did graduate work with pioneering researchers in artificial intelligence building neural network models of language acquisition and processing, and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Patrick Conway, 37
Chief Development Officer

Mr. Conway has many years of focusing on maximizing value of both venture and private equity investments, focusing on growth and performance improvements, financings, and M&A activities covering various sectors and areas of the capital structure. He also has over 15 years serving as a portfolio manager of alternative and opportunistic investments for both a multi-strategy hedge fund and a family office. As a portfolio manager, Mr. Conway served as an active and hands-on board member for various portfolio companies. In 2014, Mr. Conway founded TerraCarta, a real asset leasing and development company, and has served as CEO/President since its founding. He is also currently CEO of Dara Management, a yield focused asset manager, a role he has held since 2018. Dara matches portfolios of de-risked assets with esoteric financings to provide above market risk-adjusted returns for several large institutional investors. From 2012 to 2018, Mr. Conway served as Vice President of 60 Degrees. Mr. Conway currently holds several private board positions and has served on the board of Global Investment Capital Corp (TSX: GLIN) since 2017. Mr. Conway received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago.

Ken Rosenblum, 58
General Counsel and Secretary

Mr. Rosenblum is a New York City-based corporate and securities attorney with over 25 years of broad experience in mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital markets, senior lending, venture capital, private equity, private investment funds and SEC regulatory and compliance matters. Mr. Rosenblum currently advises a family office on their venture capital and private equity investments. Previously, he served as the General Counsel of Ritchie Capital Management, a global multi-strategy alternative investment platform, and was a partner at Sonnenschein in New York City, where he advised public and private companies and completed transactions in numerous industries including media, telecom, technology, energy, healthcare and insurance. Mr. Rosenblum began his legal career as a corporate lawyer at the New York and London offices of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. He has also worked in Silicon Valley representing tech and biotech start-up companies. Mr. Rosenblum currently serves as the General Counsel and Secretary of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Rosenblum is licensed to practice law in the State of New York. Mr. Rosenblum received a B.A. from Lehigh University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. He is an active supporter of several local institutions and organizations, including The Horace Mann School.

Board of Directors

Randy Brinkley, 76
Director

Mr. Brinkley established Brinkley & Associates Company as a private investment and aerospace consulting firm in August 2004. Mr. Brinkley is also a limited partner and member of the Operational Executive Board for J.F. Lehman Company LLC, a private defense and aerospace equity investment firm. Mr. Brinkley is also a member of the U.S. Space Board of Directors. Mr. Brinkley currently serves as a director and the Chief Executive Officer of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Brinkley was formerly President of Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. (“BSS”), the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial communication satellites. Prior to that, he was the Senior Vice President of Programs for Hughes Space and Communications Company. Mr. Brinkley was the NASA Program Manager for the International Space Station (“ISS”) from 1994 until 1999. At NASA, Mr. Brinkley was responsible for the design, development, test, launching, and on-orbit assembly of the ISS elements as well as the integration of Russia’s participation in the ISS Program. Before his assignment as Program Manager for the ISS, Mr. Brinkley was the Mission Director of the Hubble Space Telescope Repair Mission. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Brinkley managed research and development activities for Advanced Aircraft systems and technologies at the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company. Mr. Brinkley served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 25 years before retiring as a Colonel. As a company commander, Mr. Brinkley led combat operations in the Republic of Vietnam before entering the U.S. Air Force pilot training program. After being designated a Naval Aviator, Mr. Brinkley was selected as the Navy’s Flight instructor of the Year and later earned the designation of Marine Corps Aviator of the Year in 1976. Mr. Brinkley has flown more than 4,000 hours in 42 types of aircraft, which include the F-18 Hornet, AV-8B Harrier, and the F-4 Phantom. As a Marine Aviator, Mr. Brinkley commanded a F-4 fighter squadron as well as the prestigious Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron and later an air group of seven F-18 squadrons. Mr. Brinkley received his B.S. degree from the University of North Carolina and a M.S. degree from Boston University and graduate level studies in strategic defense and international relations at the Naval War College. Mr. Brinkley also graduated the Marine Corps School of Engineering and, as a Marine Corp Aviator, he graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). He also graduated from the Marine Corp Amphibious Warfare School and NATO Defense College. In addition, Mr. Brinkley also was a Strategic Studies Fellow at the Naval War College. Mr. Brinkley has received awards for his outstanding achievement in aerospace, including the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals. Mr. Brinkley was also awarded the 1993 Aviation Week and Space Technology Laurels Award, the National Aviation Association’s Robert J. Collier Trophy in 1993 for his efforts as Mission Director of the Hubble Telescope Repair Mission. He was subsequently inducted into the Smithsonian’s Aviation Hall of Fame for his efforts as Program Manager of NASA’s International Space Station. Mr. Brinkley has also received the Space Achievement Award from the U.S. Space Foundation and the Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award from the National Space Club. Mr. Brinkley was also awarded his second Robert J. Collier Trophy as a member of the ISS program team for NASA. Mr. Brinkley was selected to serve on the Board of Directors due to his experience in the aerospace industry.

Ray Conley, 50
Director

Mr. Conley is the CEO of Benetic Inc., a financial services technology company serving the retirement market. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Conley has led technology companies across multiple industry sectors including financial services, enterprise software, and aerospace. Previously, Mr. Conley led a specialty finance firm, Finance Technology Leverage LLC and Creekstone Capital Management, a registered investment advisor. Prior to Creekstone, Mr. Conley was a fund manager at Palo Alto Investors and a private equity and venture capital partner at Oak Hill Capital. He has led over two dozen venture capital and leveraged buyout investments creating over $6 billion in market value, including Financial Engines (NASDAQ: FNGN), Telephia (NASDAQ: NLSN), and Limelight Networks (NASDAQ: LLNW). Mr. Conley began his career as a satellite propulsion engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company and later joined McKinsey & Company. Mr. Conley currently serves on the boards of directors of Reciprocity, Inc., the leading software provider of governance, risk, and compliance for information security and Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Ray received his B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the inventor of the air-breathing ion rocket engine and has published research on the cause of aortic aneurysms. Ray is a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and is a holder of the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Mr. Conley was selected to serve on the Board due to his experience in venture capital and leveraged buyout investments.

Michael Lerner, 64
Director

Mr. Lerner has over 35 years of experience providing strategic judgment and practical advice regarding diverse matters for pharmaceutical, life sciences, and health care companies. Mr. Lerner has a background in product acquisitions and divestitures, technology licensing, sales and marketing practices, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, corporate compliance, employment law, and regulatory matters. Mr. Lerner is currently a partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, where since 2006 he has chaired the Life Sciences Group. From August 2008 to December 2010, Mr. Lerner also was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of EKR Therapeutics, a specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on acute care hospital products. Mr. Lerner recently served on the board of directors of Blue Water Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BLUWU) from December 2020 until its merger with Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. in September 2021. Prior to joining Lowenstein Sandler, from September 2000 to August 2006, Mr. Lerner was Vice President and General Counsel at Reliant Pharmaceuticals Inc., which Mr. Lerner helped grow into one of the nation’s largest privately held pharmaceutical companies before it was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2007. As part of Reliant’s senior management team, he was named lead inside lawyer on numerous product acquisitions and dispositions. He currently serves as Chairman of the board of directors of the Blanche and Irwin Lerner Center for the study of Pharmaceutical Management Issues at Rutgers Business School. Mr. Lerner brings valuable expertise in legal considerations of the life science industry, as well as a documented track record of public speaking and professional presentations to the team. Mr. Lerner received a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law in and a B.A. from Boston University. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive expertise in a range of legal considerations within the life science and healthcare industry.

Mark Mykityshyn, 63
Director

Dr. Mykityshyn is the CEO and Managing Partner of Endeavor Technology Group, LLC, a private investment firm that provides flexible capital solutions and strategic support for middle-market, technology- centric businesses in the aerospace, defense, and cybersecurity sectors. Dr. Mykityshyn possesses a unique background derived from his experience and demonstrated performance over the past 30 years in building and leading diverse teams in the military, academia, and business. Prior to Endeavor, he co-founded and managed three companies, including two investment firms. At the nexus of his experience base is an expansive understanding of technology and the unique ability to make substantive intellectual contributions while applying that knowledge to investment finance. His knowledge of aerospace-related network architectures and complex dynamic systems led to investment focus areas as a two-time fund manager that included cybersecurity, sensor / data analytics, command and control technologies, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance-related technologies. He also worked with NASA on the design of a multifunction electronic display system that was implemented into the Space Shuttle fleet. In his various roles, he has served as Managing Partner, CEO, Chairman, Co-Chairman, and Executive Chairman, developing and executing strategies to help orchestrate substantive exits for multiple companies. Among others, he: co-founded Backwire, Inc., that sold to Leap Wireless International (NASDAQ: LWIN); co- wrote the business plan for the company that became WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD); was on the pre-finance team and investor #4 in Endeca Technologies, Inc., a $1 billion+ sale to Oracle Corporation(NASDAQ: ORCL); helped lead the growth of DataPath, Inc. as Co-Chairman to over 500 employees and a $300 million revenue run rate within 20 months, resulting in the institutional IPO of the company. Dr. Mykityshyn currently serves as a director of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Dr. Mykityshyn served in the military as a Marine Corps officer and Naval Aviator. His civilian participation in national security affairs includes serving as the Chairman of the U.S. Army War College Board of Visitors, and as a member of or advisor to the Naval Research Advisory Committee, the Defense Science Board, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, and NASA’s Advisory Council. He is currently a Senior Fellow in the Center for Business and Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is also a member of The George Washington University’s Research Advisory Board, and a member of the National Advisory Council for its School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he earned his Doctorate in Systems Engineering, minor in Aerospace Engineering, from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also earned a Master’s degree from the Science, Technology & Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and the degrees of Engineer of and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Mykityshyn was selected to serve on the Board due to his knowledge in Aerospace Engineering and experience in private equity.

Dan Webb, 76
Director

Dan Webb is a trial attorney and co-executive chairman of Winston & Strawn LLP. Prior to joining the firm in 1985, Mr. Webb served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. His practice concentrates in the areas of major commercial, civil, regulatory and white-collar criminal cases. Mr. Webb has been appointed by courts to act as a Special Prosecutor or in a similar capacity on five occasions. Mr. Webb has received numerous awards and recognitions, including BTI Client Service All-Star in 2017, and he was a 2010 recipient of the Inns of Court Professionalism Award. Mr. Webb is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Webb previously served on the board of directors from Equal Justice Works from 2011 to 2017 and in 2008 he chaired the Chicago Bar Association’s Campaign for Justice. Mr. Webb currently serves as a director of Aries I Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Webb has also served on the board of directors of The Shirley Ryan Rehabilitation Institute since 2018. Mr. Webb earned his JD from Loyola University, Chicago. Mr. Webb was selected to serve on the Board due to his business experience.