Executive Officers

Alec Gores, 62
Chairman 

Mr. Gores is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Gores Group, a global investment firm focused on acquiring businesses that can benefit from the firm’s operating expertise. Mr. Gores pioneered a new operational approach to private equity investing when he founded The Gores Group in 1987. Since then, the firm has acquired more than 100 businesses including a current portfolio of more than 20 active companies worldwide. Mr. Gores began his career as a self-made entrepreneur and operating executive. In 1978, he self-funded and founded Executive Business Systems (EBS), a developer and distributor of vertical business software systems. Within seven years, EBS had become a leading value-added reseller in Michigan and employed over 200 people. In 1986, CONTEL purchased EBS, and Mr. Gores subsequently began acquiring and operating non-core businesses from major corporations and building value in those entities, a decision that ultimately led to the founding of what has evolved into The Gores Group today. Under his leadership, The Gores Group has continued to acquire businesses in need of operational and financial resources, while creating value and working with management teams to establish an entrepreneurial environment as a foundation for sustainable growth. This philosophy has served the firm well. Mr. Gores holds a degree in Computer Science from Western Michigan University.

Mark Stone, 51
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Stone is a Senior Managing Director and President, Operations of The Gores Group. Mr. Stone is a member of the Investment Committee and a member of the Office of the Chairman of The Gores Group. Mr. Stone has worked at The Gores Group for more than ten years, primarily focusing on worldwide operations of all Gores’ portfolio companies and all Gores’ operational due diligence efforts. He has been a senior team member with key responsibility in several turnaround, value-oriented investment opportunities, including Stock Building Supply, a supplier of building materials and construction services to professional home builders and contractors in the U.S; United Road Services, a provider of finished vehicle logistics services; and Sage Automotive Interiors, the largest North American manufacturer of high performance automotive seat fabrics. Mr. Stone has also been involved with the acquisitions, successful carve-outs and transformations of Lineage Power and VincoTech, manufacturers of telecom conversion products, electronic OEMs, power modules, GPS products and electronic manufacturing services, from TE Connectivity Ltd.; Therakos, a global leader in advanced technologies for extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), from Johnson & Johnson; and Sagem Communications, a Paris-based manufacturer of set-top boxes, residential terminals, printers and other communications equipment, from the Safran Group. He has served as Executive Chairman and/or CEO of several portfolio companies including Siemens Enterprise Communications, a leading Munich-based global corporate telephony (PBX) and unified communications (UC) solutions provider, and Enterasys Networks, a global network solutions provider. Prior to joining The Gores Group, Mr. Stone spent nearly a decade as a Chief Executive transforming businesses across the services, industrial and technology sectors. Mr. Stone spent five years with The Boston Consulting Group as a member of their high technology and industrial goods practices and served in the firm’s Boston, London, Los Angeles and Seoul offices. Mr. Stone earned a B.S. in Finance with Computer Science and Mathematics concentrations from the University of Maine and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Kyle Wheeler, 35
President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Mr. Wheeler is responsible for leading the negotiation and execution of acquisitions and divestitures at The Gores Group. Prior to The Gores Group, Mr. Wheeler was a Principal at FdG Associates, a private investment firm founded by the Fisher and de Gunzburg families, in New York and Los Angeles, where he served on the board of directors of a number of portfolio companies and was responsible for leading and managing acquisitions and recapitalizations. Previously, Mr. Wheeler was based in New York and was a member of the mergers & acquisitions, restructuring advisory and merchant banking groups at Gleacher Partners, an advisory and investment firm founded by Eric Gleacher, who previously headed global mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Wheeler has extensive financial, investment, transactional and capital markets experience, as well as significant board and governance experience, across diverse industries and in varying macroeconomic environments. Mr. Wheeler currently serves on the board of directors of Cosmo Specialty Fibers, a portfolio company of The Gores Group. Previously, Mr. Wheeler served on the board of directors of Norment Security Group, Sage Automotive and Scovill Fasteners, portfolio companies of The Gores Group. Mr. Wheeler holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Colgate University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Board of Directors

Randy Bort, 50
Director Nominee

Mr. Bort is a Co-Founder of SandTree Holdings, LLC, a private commercial real estate investment firm, where he focuses on origination, due diligence and raising debt and equity capital for investments primarily in single- and multi-tenant retail properties. Previously, Mr. Bort was an investment banker at Drexel Burnham Lambert, BT Securities, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Credit Suisse First Boston, The Mercanti Group and Imperial Capital. Mr. Bort has significant financial, transactional and capital markets experience across multiple industries and has worked both domestically and in Asia. Mr. Bort graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a B.A in Economics and Mathematics and received his M.B.A. in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Bort is a member of the Board of Trustees of Children’s Bureau, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles focused on foster care and the prevention of child abuse.

William Patton, 69
Director Nominee

Mr. Patton is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of The Four Star Group, a consulting and advisory firm focused on the civilian fields of Defense, Space, Military and Security. Mr. Patton has served as chairman, president and/or chief executive officer of a number of private and public companies including Unisys, Cado Systems, MAI Basic Four and Peerless Systems and has spent his entire career in the related fields of computer systems and telecommunications technology. Mr. Patton holds an undergraduate Business degree from Santa Monica City College and a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the Missouri School of Science & Technology. Mr. Patton served as an officer and Ranger in the United States Army for nine years, attaining the rank of Major.