Alan Patricof

Alan Patricof is Co-Founder of Apax Partners, Inc. (formerly Patricof & Co. Ventures, Inc.), one of the world's leading private equity firms, with operations in eight countries and over $12 billion under management. Prior to founding Patricof & Company in 1969, he was Assistant to the Chairman of Northwest Industries in charge of Acquisitions and Pension Fund Management. From 1960 to 1968, he was Assistant Vice President and subsequently Vice President of Central National Corp., a private family investment management organization. While at Central National, he became a founder and chairman of the Board of New York magazine, which later acquired The Village Voice and started New West Magazine. While at Central National, he also participated in the founding of Datascope Corporation and LIN Broadcasting Corporation.

During the past 30 years, Mr. Patricof has participated in the financing and development of a large number of both public and private companies--many of which he still serves on as a member of the Board of Directors. These companies include Johnny Rockets, Upoc, Inc., and Zinio Systems, Inc., which are privately held; and ATX Communications, Inc., Audible, Inc., and Boston Properties, which are publicly owned. Among other companies with which the firm has been involved at the initial stages are Apple Computer, America Online, Cadence Systems, Office Depot, and Fore Systems.

Mr. Patricof is chairman of the Private Equity Group of the Global Corporate Governance Forum. In addition, he serves on the board of trustees of Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is an executive committee board member of TechnoServe, the Trickle Up Program and National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Mr. Patricof is also a member of the UNDP Commission on the Private Sector & Development, and the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is a member of the Committee on Corporate Affairs. He is a member of the board of the New York Small Business Venture Fund and the New York Administrative Committee of Fleet National Bank. Mr. Patricof also travels extensively to the developing countries as an advisor to the IFC and the World Bank.

Mr. Patricof served for over ten years as the Treasurer and as a Member of the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences. He served as Chairman of the Investment Committee and as a Member of the Board of the New York State Science & Technology Foundation. He also has served as Vice Chairman of the Commission on Increasing Capital Flows to Africa. In addition, he has served as a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Capital Formation Subcommittee of the Competitiveness Policy Council. From 1993 to 1995, he served as Chairman of the White House Conference on Small Business Commission.

Mr. Patricof holds a BS in finance from Ohio State University and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. 

Activities in the Developing World

During the past three years, Mr. Patricof has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia as a special advisor to the International Finance Corporation, a division of the World Bank. In this time, he has assisted the IFC in the area of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), assisting in the creation of new strategies and potential new instruments for financing and technical assistance. These activities interface with his membership on the Task Force for Increasing Capital Flows to Africa--created by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Corporate Council on Africa and the Institute for International Economics. In addition, he has participated as a member of the Commission on the Private Sector & Development, created by the Secretary General of the United Nations to deal with unleashing entrepreneurship and making business work for the poor in developing nations. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations' Africa Advisory Board, which was created to advance the issues of importance in Africa to a wider audience in the Council and beyond.