Alex Navab
Alex Navab | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 24, 1965 |
| Died | July 7, 2019 (aged 53) |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) Harvard Business School (MBA) |
| Occupation | private equity executive |
| Employer | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts |
Alex Navab (November 24, 1965 – July 7, 2019) was an American financier who was the head of the Americas Private Equity Business of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and possible successor to the firm.
Early life
[edit]Navab was born on November 24, 1965, in Isfahan, to an Iranian father and Greek mother, Dr. Ali and Katina (Armenakis) Navab. His father was a physician.[1] The family fled for Greece after the Iranian revolution in 1979 and then moved to the United States.[2] He graduated from Columbia College as Phi Beta Kappa in 1987 and Harvard Business School in 1991.[3][4][5]
Career
[edit]He worked at Goldman Sachs and James D. Wolfensohn, Inc. before joining KKR in 1993. During his time at KKR, he oversaw its takeover of the Nielsen Company, Yellow Pages and Borden. Navab became co-president of KKR's American private equity business in 2008. He became the sole president in 2014.[6] He helped the firm raise $13.9 billion, one of the biggest of its kind.[1][7] He was the youngest partner at KKR.[8]
Navab sat on the management committee of KKR and was considered by many in the industry to be a candidate to succeed Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts.[1][9][10] However, he was reported to have health issues which raised concerns about his prospects of succession.[11][12] After two other executives, Scott C. Nuttall and Joseph Bae, were promoted to co-presidents, he departed KKR in 2017 and launched his own buyout firm, Navab Capital Partners.[2][6][10][13][14]
Philanthropy
[edit]His philanthropic activities included serving as a trustee of Columbia University as well as on the boards of the Robin Hood Foundation and NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital.[15][16][17] He was also involved in the Greek American community and was named "Executive of the Year" in 2017 by the Hellenic American Association for Professionals in Finance.[18][19]
In 2016, he received an Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his professional achievements and public service.[3][20] He received a John Jay Award from Columbia College in 2011, along with Ghanaian economist and future Minister for Finance and Economic Planning Ken Ofori-Atta, Israeli ambassador Michael Oren, and Livingston Award-winning journalist Elizabeth Rubin.[21]
Political activities
[edit]Navab served on the advisory council of the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative at the Brookings Institution, where business leaders put forward proposals for America's economic policy.[22] He was the former co-chair of the national council of the American Enterprise Institute and supported former governor Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.[23][24][25]
Personal life
[edit]He died [clarification needed] on July 7, 2019, while vacationing with his family in Greece.[26] His memorial service was held in Central Park and was attended by 1,800 people, including Mitt Romney, Henry Kissinger, Ali Wentworth, George Stephanopoulos, Wilbur Ross, Mariska Hargitay, Peter Hermann, and Aerin Lauder.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Merced, Michael J. de la (2019-07-12). "Alex Navab, Prominent Wall Street Dealmaker, Is Dead at 53". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ a b Gottfried, Miriam (2019-04-18). "Former KKR Executive Alexander Navab Aims to Raise $3 Billion for New Buyout Firm". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ a b "Board of Visitors Chair Alex Navab CC'87 receives 2016 Ellis Island Medal of Honor". May 19, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ "Columbia College mourns the loss of Alex Navab CC'87". Columbia College. July 11, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ "WHAT DOES THE AMERICAN DREAM MEAN IN TODAY'S AMERICA?". www.alumni.hbs.edu. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ a b "Ex-KKR executive Navab to launch buyout firm with Goldman backing: sources". Reuters. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "KKR Closes $13.9 Billion Americas Private Equity Fund". KKR & Co. Inc. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ a b "NYC Elite Remember Financier Alexander Navab". gothammag.com. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "Remembering Alex Navab, former KKR executive and founder of Navab Capital Partners". Mergers & Acquisitions. 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ a b Merced, Michael J. de la (2017-07-17). "K.K.R. Lays Out a Line of Succession, a Rare Move in Private Equity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ Kosman, Josh (2013-07-26). "KKR draws healthy skeptics after co-head collapses during investor meeting". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "At KKR, Nuttall and Bae are favorites to fill founders' shoes". Reuters. 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ Perlberg, Heather (18 April 2019). "Former KKR Dealmaker Alex Navab Starts a Private Equity Firm". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ "Alex Navab Unveils New Firm, Navab Capital Partners". www.businesswire.com. 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "Alexander Navab and Li Lu Elected to Columbia Board of Trustees". September 7, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ Hood, Robin (2015-01-30). "David Einhorn Elected as Chair of Robin Hood Board of Directors". Robin Hood. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center Opens the Mary Kathryn and Alex Navab Cardiothoracic Robotic Surgery Center - NewYork-Presbyterian". www.nyp.org. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ Staff, T. N. H. "Alexander Navab, Businessman and Philanthropist, Passed Away, 53". The National Herald. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ Kolasa-Sikiaridi, Kerry (2017-05-02). "Hellenic American Association for Professionals in Finance to Honor Alexander Navab as Executive of the Year | USA.GreekReporter.com". Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "Medalists Database". 104.131.85.100. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ Sachare, Alex. "Five Alumni Honored at John Jay Awards Dinner". Columbia College Today. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ "Alexander Navab | The Hamilton Project". www.hamiltonproject.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ "National Council". 2017-02-22. Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ "Alex Navab, Ex-KKR Dealmaker Who Opened Own Firm, Dies at 53". Bloomberg. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ White, Ben. "Building the Jeb Bush machine — Clinton Foundation taking foreign cash — Greece seeks extension". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- ^ "Alex Navab, KKR Breakout Star, Dies Unexpectedly". Institutional Investor. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-21.