Executive Officers

Andrew Klaber, 39
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Since September 2020, Mr. Klaber has served as the founder and CEO of Bedford Ridge Capital. Previously, from 2009 until September 2020, he served as a Partner on the investment team at Paulson & Company, a multi-strategy investment firm in New York, where he led or co-led firm investments in the technology, media, and telecom; consumer and retail; and gaming and leisure sectors. Mr. Klaber received a B.A. from Yale College (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa president), two M.Sc. degrees from the University of Oxford (Marshall Scholar), and a J.D.-MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School (Dean’s Award winner). Mr. Klaber is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of the International Rescue Committee.

Matthew Walters, 34
Chief Operating Officer

Since September 2020, Mr. Walters has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Jaws Spitfire Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company that launched its initial public offering in December 2020, and has served as a Principal at JAWS Estates Capital, a public and private direct investing focused single family office, since 2015. He directs the private investment strategy with a particular emphasis on the consumer and technology sectors for Jaws. Jaws representative investments include Artsy, Away Luggage, Color Genomics, Delos Living, Didi, Domino’s China, Flaschenpost, Flipkart, Hyperloop, Illumio, Pre-IPO Lyft, Oscar Health, Oyo Rooms, Parachute Home, Qualia, Sarcos Robotics, Sweetgreen, Third Love and Wish. Prior to joining Jaws, Mr. Walters spent his entire career at L Catterton, the largest, most global consumer-focused private equity firm, where he worked on sourcing and investment strategy for both the buyout and growth oriented funds. Mr. Walters sits on the board of Jaws Spitfire Acquisition Corporation and Sempre Life and is a board observer at Bluestone Lane and Parachute Home. Mr. Walters received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.S. in Finance from Fairfield University.

Michael Reidler, 29
Chief Financial Officer

Since October 2020, Mr. Reidler has served as an Investment Partner and CFO at Bedford Ridge Capital. From May 2015 to March 2018, Mr. Reidler served as an investment professional at Citadel, a multi-strategy investment firm, and previously as an investment banker at Evercore, a global independent investment banking advisory firm. Mr. Reidler received a B.S. from New York University (summa cum laude) and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was enrolled from August 2018 to May 2020. Mr. Reidler is the founder and chairman of Kol HaNearim, a not-for-profit organization that aims to provide social and emotional support for underprivileged youth at risk.

Board of Directors

Barry Sternlicht, 59
Chairman

Mr. Sternlicht founded Starwood Capital in 1991, serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Starwood Capital is a private alternative investment firm focused on global real estate, hotel management, oil and gas and energy infrastructure with over $73 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2020. Through the Starwood Capital platform, Mr. Sternlicht has created several multi-billion public market companies, ranging from traditional real estate to branded hospitality.  Throughout Mr. Sternlicht’s career, he has focused on capitalizing on emerging consumer trends; either directly via core operating assets or indirectly through Starwood Capital’s real estate portfolio. He has also executed several marquee public market transactions to enhance the scale of his core platform—including the creation and expansion of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), the consolidation of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (formerly NYSE: HOT), the spin-off and growth of Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH) and the formation of Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR). Similarly, he has been involved in numerous private market consumer businesses as an early investor. Mr. Sternlicht currently serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of STWD, a leading, diversified real estate finance company with over $3 billion in market capitalization as of January 2021; and one of the first mortgage REITs launched post-crisis. Since inception in 2009, Mr. Sternlicht guided STWD through a steady evolution with over $61 billion in deployed capital, evolving from a pure-play commercial lender to a diversified commercial REIT with residential lending, commercial mortgage servicing, property ownership and infrastructure lending. Mr. Sternlicht also has deep operating expertise, serving as the Chairman, from January 1995 through May 2005, and as the Chief Executive Officer, from January 1995 through September 2004, of HOT; a period in which the share price appreciated at a compound annual growth rate of 16%. Over his tenure as Chief Executive Officer, he grew the total market capitalization of HOT to approximately $10 billion. As Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sternlicht executed several key acquisitions, including Westin Hotels, Patriot American and ITT Corp., and led the development of the W Hotel concept. Outside of his public market experience, Mr. Sternlicht has made a variety of investments in the consumer sector. Most notably, he has acquired or founded a number of independent hotel chains, including Baccarat Hotels, 1 Hotels and Treehouse Hotels, which are operated by SH Hotels & Resorts, a hotel brand management company and an affiliate of Starwood Capital. In addition to these investments, Mr. Sternlicht has invested in various consumer facing companies, including ThirdLove, a women’s clothing brand, Lyft, a ride share application, 2ndMD, which offers medical second opinions with virtual online consultations, Bonobos, an e-commerce-driven apparel company, Palantir, which specializes in big data analytics, Wish, a leading U.S.-based e-commerce platform, Flipkart, a leading India-based e-commerce platform, and Alibaba, a leading China-based e-commerce platform.

John Legere, 62
Director

Mr. Legere served as President and Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile from 2012 to April 2020. At T-Mobile, he led the creation of the “Uncarrier” culture, which solved major customer pain points in telecom and resulted in T-Mobile receiving Best Place to Work and J.D. Power Customer Service awards. Prior to joining T-Mobile, from 2001 and 2011, Mr. Legere served as CEO of Global Crossing Limited, a telecommunications company ,which he successfully restructured from bankruptcy to a sale to Level 3. Before joining Global Crossing, John was CEO of Asia Global Crossing (Microsoft, Softbank, and Global Crossing joint venture) and President of Dell Computer Corporation’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Legere also worked at AT&T for 18 years in a number of senior positions, including President of AT&T AsiaPacific, President of AT&T Solutions Outsourcing Unit, and head of global strategy and development. Mr. Legere received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts, a Master of Science degree from MIT (Alfred P. Sloan Fellow), an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a certificate from Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development.

David Helfand, 55 [Resigned 11/8/23]
Director

Mr. Helfand has worked with Sam Zell for more than 28 years in a variety of capacities. Currently, he serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Equity Commonwealth (EQC), and is a member of the company’s board of directors. EQC is an internally managed and self-advised REIT. Previously, Mr. Helfand founded and served as President of Helix Funds, where he oversaw the acquisition, management, and disposition of more than $2.2 billion in real estate assets. While at Helix, Mr. Helfand also served as Chief Executive Officer for American Residential Communities, a Helix portfolio company. Mr. Helfand holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and a BA from Northwestern University. He serves as a Director on the boards of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and The Ounce of Prevention, and as a Commissioner for the Chicago Park District. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at The Wharton School, and the Board of Visitors at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

Elizabeth Cogan Fascitelli, 62
Director

Until July 2020, Ms. Cogan Fascitelli served as a partner at the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., where she was Chief Operating Officer of the Merchant Banking Division. She joined the firm in 1984. She is a former director of Carmike Cinemas, Cosmetics Plus Group, Globe Manufacturing, Neuromedical Systems, and Whole Foods Market. Ms. Cogan Fascitelli is a Director of Fortress Capital Acquisition Corp., a trustee of the nonprofit Partnership for Inner-City Education and Child Mind Institute and serves on the Dartmouth Board of Trustees and on the Harvard Business School Board of Advisors. She received an AB from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.