Executive Officers

Andrew Gundlach, 53
Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors

He currently serves as President and Co-Chief Executive Officer at Bleichroeder, a registered investment advisor focused on ultra-high–net-worth families, a position held since 2019, where he oversees the strategic and operational aspects of the firm. He also was an Adjunct Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School from 2004 to the present, where he taught courses on investing, and currently serves on the school’s board. Previously, Mr. Gundlach co-founded Artemis Advisors LLC in 1999 and served as a founding partner until 2006. His earlier career includes roles as an Associate at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. from 1996 to 1999, and as an Analyst at Morgan Stanley from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Gundlach holds board positions as a Non-Executive Director at First Eagle Investment Management, LLC since 2006, and previously held similar roles at BenevolentAI from 2021 to 2022, and at Materia, Inc. from 2006 until its acquisition by ExxonMobil in 2021. Mr. Gundlach is also a Member of the Investment Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and holds both an MS and a BS in International Relations and Affairs from Georgetown University.

Robert Folino, 55
Chief Financial Officer

He joined Bleichroeder, a registered investment advisor, as a trader in 2018 where he and Mr. Gundlach worked closely to help establish the firm. In 2019, Mr. Folino was made Chief Operating Officer and Head of Trading of Bleichroeder. He is currently responsible for overseeing all aspects of accounting, tax and financial operations of the funds, the management company, and its general partner entities. Prior to joining Bleichroeder, Mr. Folino worked for First Eagle Investment Management for 22 years, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. He joined Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, the predecessor firm to First Eagle Investment Management, in 1996 as a junior arbitrage trader for the Merger Arbitrage Department. Mr. Folino holds a BA in Finance from Rider University.

Board of Directors

Joseph Samuels, 49
Director Nominee

He is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Channel Partners, an investment firm focused on strategic transactions and opportunistic liquidity in public and private companies since 2023, and Islet Management, an investment firm focused on an opportunistic, catalyst-oriented long / short equity strategy, since 2017. Prior to founding Islet, from 2003 to 2016, Mr. Samuels was an Executive Managing Director who previously held many key roles at Sculptor Capital Management Inc. (fka Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC), a hedge fund with peak AUM of $50 billion. During his 14 years at the fund, he served on the Portfolio Management Committee, the Risk Committee, and the Managing Director Committee, and acted as Head of U.S. Trading and as the Co-Head of the U.S. Equity Business. He worked closely with banks and other market participants to create capital solutions for individual companies/sectors and as a balance sheet partner for strategic dispositions and funding opportunities. Prior to that, from 2001 to 2003, Mr. Samuels worked at Pequot Capital Management Inc. and, prior to that, from 1997 to 2001, he worked in the Sales and Trading division at Merrill Lynch & Co.. He received a BA in Economics from Rutgers College.

Antoine Theysset, 48
Director Nominee

He has 25 years of international strategy and operations experience in the Technology, Media and Entertainment industry. Mr. Theysset has been serving as a director and advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of Improbable Worlds Ltd, a technology company providing metaverse infrastructure and applications, since January 2024. Prior to that, from 2018 to 2023, he was an Operating Partner and Portfolio Manager with SoftBank Investment Advisers, focused on its Consumer Tech and Media investments. From 2017 to 2018, Mr. Theysset led McKinsey’s Fast Growth Tech practice development in the Consumer Tech and Media markets. He has been advising startups and VC funds on growth strategy and international expansion, both with McKinsey and as advisor/operating partner to 2 early–stage funds. Previously, he held several executive positions with News Corp over 8 years in London and then in New York. As Chief Operating Officer of Fox Interactive Media’s international division in London from 2009 to 2011, he oversaw strategy and operations across 29 countries including 3 JVs in Russia, China, and Japan (50/50 with Softbank). He launched a tablet-based distribution platform named Amplify Access funded by News Corp. in New York and as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, he led Amplify Access’ strategic partnerships, and worked on the sale of Amplify Access to Emerson Collective in 2015, while restructuring Amplify Access as acting Chief Executive Officer during the sale. Before News Corp, he led strategy and business development for Orange Mobile Group in London, evaluating investment opportunities in operators and licenses in emerging markets, as well as the launch of new media products and services. His other experiences include strategy consulting with Cap Gemini, advising Hollywood Studios on the first D2C and streaming services, Universal Music Group, launching the first digital music platforms, and Vivendi Universal Net’s Strategic Planning and Corporate Development. Mr. Theysset received an MBA in Finance and Marketing from NYU Stern and is a graduate of the double-degree program in International Business from Northeastern University and NEOMA Business School/CESEM.

Nazim Cetin, 47
Director Nominee

He has served as Chief Executive Officer and Global Chief Investment Officer of Allianz X GmbH, which invests in digital frontrunners in ecosystems relevant to insurance and asset management, since 2017. From 2012 to 2017, Mr. Cetin was Vice President of Corporate Development & New Businesses at Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, a German private multinational conglomerate. Previously, he served as Vice President Commercial Finance at Maple Bank from 2004 to 2007. Mr. Cetin began his career in investment banking at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, or LBBW, a full-service and commercial bank and central bank for savings banks in Germany. Mr. Cetin currently serves on the boards of Pie Insurance, an insurance company, WeLab Holdings, a fintech company focused on Asia, Clark SE, an insurance broker operating in Germany, UK, France and Benelux, and AlTi Gobal, a leading independent global wealth management company. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Witten-Herdecke University, an M.Sc. in Economics and Management from Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, and a degree in Quantitative Economics from Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen.