Executive Officers

Thomas W. Neukranz, 63
Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Neukranz has served as Chief Financial Officer and a director of Sagaliam Acquisition Corp. since May 2021 and has served as Managing Director of Capital Markets for GLD Partners, LP since July 2020. Prior to joining GLD Partners, LP, Mr. Neukranz served as Head of Capital Markets for CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital Inc., from July 2017 to August 2019, and as Executive Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee of Aegon Investment Management, from February 2017 to August 2018. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Neukranz was a Partner and Head of the Institutional businesses at RS Investments, Vice President, Global Head of Exchange Derivatives at Goldman Sachs and Head of Exchange Traded Derivatives at JP Morgan. Previously, Mr. Neukranz was responsible for derivative hedging for Bank of America and Lehman Brothers. Mr. Neukranz began his career on the floor of the Board of Trade in Chicago. Mr. Neukranz has served on the Board of the Stanford Cancer Institute since 2016 and served as Chairman from 2017 through 2019. Mr. Neukranz received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from Purdue University, and holds Series 7 and 63 FINRA licenses.

Barry Kostiner, 49
Chief Financial Officer and Director

Since May 2021, Mr. Kostiner has served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sagaliam Acquisition Corp. and has also served, since February 2021, as the President of Legacy Tech Partners, LLC, a microcap-focused “EdTech” investment vehicle. Mr. Kostiner joined the Board of Directors of Legacy Education Alliance, Inc. (OTC: LEAI) (“Legacy Education Alliance”) in May 2021. Legacy Education Alliance has had cumulative education revenues in excess of $500 million over the past decade, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Kostiner was the CFO of Ameri Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRH) (“Ameri Holdings”) from October 2018 through December 2020. The operations of Ameri Holdings Inc., including its global IT services business focused on SAP software with operations in both the United States and India, was acquired by management, with the residual Nasdaq vehicle acquired by Enveric Biosciences (Nasdaq: ENVB) (“Enveric”), an evidence-based cannabinoid pharma company focused on palliative therapies for cancer patients. Mr. Kostiner has been a consultant to Enveric since January 2021. From May 2016 through October 2018, Mr. Kostiner was a consultant to Cypress Skilled Nursing, a healthcare facility operator and from May 2017 through October 2018 he was a consultant to LinKay Technologies Inc., an artificial intelligence incubator with a portfolio of intellectual property focused on artificial intelligence (“AI”) and light detection and ranging (“Li DAR”) / geospatial technology, with research staff in India and New York. Mr. Kostiner’s 20-year career in energy includes eight years at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and their affiliates, with a focus on energy trading and portfolio management, as well as serving as the CEO of an oil & gas SPAC (Nasdaq: PGRI) from 2005 through 2009. Mr. Kostiner earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His thesis on the mathematics of electric industry deregulation was sponsored by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Board of Directors

Jiayin Liu, 29
Vice President, Business Development

Prior to joining GLD Partners, LP, Ms. Liu served as Senior Financial Analyst for CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital, Inc., from March 2017 to June 2020, and served as Business Analyst for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2015. Ms. Liu received a B.S. in Economics and Finance from the University of Western Ontario, and a Master’s Degree in Financial Analysis from the University of San Francisco.

Sanjay Hundiwala, 57
Director Nominee

Mr. Hundiwala serves as Executive Vice President of Direct Investments at United Gulf Management Inc. (“UGM”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of a large diversified holding company from the Middle East and North Africa with consolidated assets of approximately $20 billion. Mr. Hundiwala is an experienced portfolio manager with more than 26 professional years in alternative investments, deep-domain experience in private equity and venture capital with an extensive global network of professionals across capital allocators, general partners, and has diversified transactional expertise across asset classes with strong technical and analytical investment skills. At the group level, he is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, and managing investments in North America. He has invested in more than 120 private equity funds and manages the relationship with more than 60 private equity firms. Mr. Hundiwala is a CFA Charterholder, received a Master’s of Science in Finance from Boston College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Lowell. He has also completed General Management Program from Harvard Business School.

Moazzam A. Khan, 64
Director Nominee

Mr. Khan currently serves as the Managing Director of Cristal Inorganic Chemicals Netherlands Cooperatief W.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of National Titanium Dioxide Company (“Cristal”), a leading titanium and inorganic chemicals global producer and marketer. Cristal was acquired by Tronox Holdings Plc (“Tronox”) in April 2019. Tronox is a NYSE listed company (NYSE: TROX). Mr. Khan served as the CFO of Cristal from October 2015 until March 2019 and has served as a board member of Tronox since April 2019. Earlier in his career, Mr. Khan served as a Financial Advisor to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (“SABIC”) from September 1992 until October 2008 covering a number of executive leadership roles in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and integrations. SABIC is a global leader in diversified chemicals with an asset base of over $80 billion. Mr. Khan served as the CFO of SABIC Capital B.V. (“SABIC Capital”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SABIC from November 2008 until September 2015. Mr. Khan has been on the board of several international subsidiaries of SABIC, including as Chairman of the Managing Boards of SABIC Capital and SABIC Luxembourg S.a r.l. from November 2008 to September 2015. Prior to SABIC, Mr. Khan worked with KPMG. Mr. Khan is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and has a degree in economics as well as leadership and business accreditations from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Xiuru (Ron) Xie, 59
Director Nominee

Mr. Xie is a lawyer and partner at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP since December 2018. Prior to that, Mr. Xie was a senior partner of Gaopeng & Partners, a national law firm in China from October 2014 to December 2018, and general manager (litigation, antitrust and policies) at Microsoft China from June 2011 to October 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Xie had practiced law from 1996 to 2011 in the firm he formed. Mr. Xie’s practice was initially focused on trade and joint ventures and has evolved to include merger and acquisition, corporate finance and restructured financing, dispute resolution, compliance and investigation. Mr. Xie receives his Juris Doctor degree from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario Canada in 1992 and Bachelor of Arts from University of International Business & Economics in 1984. He is admitted to practice law in China (1988) and Ontario Canada (1994).