Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Ariel Alternatives

Les is chairman and CEO of Sarr Group, LLC, a diversified holding company for his investments and is senior advisor of G100 Companies, a unique business partnership that combines the world’s best C-level learning communities with premier professional services firms. Les brings over 40 years of expertise in investment banking, commercial banking and financial advisory services. In 2019, he received the Industry Icon Award and was inducted into the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Business Hall of Fame. In 2015, he was recognized by NACD as one of America’s top 100 corporate directors. Previously, Les was a managing director at CCMP Capital Advisors. He also founded and was chairman emeritus of Hamilton Lane, the world’s leading private equity advisory and management firm. Currently, Les is chairman of the board of directors of CDK Global, a lead director of Merck & Co., Inc. and Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., where he had been chairman of the board. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors of Corning, Inc. and was formerly chairman of the board of directors of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. and chair of the compensation committee at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Les is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He functioned as chairman of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s S.B.I.C. Advisory Council and had been a member of the Committee for the Reinvention of the S.B.A. Les sat on the board of directors of the Richcourt Group, a Hamilton Lane company specializing in hedge fund of funds management. Formerly, he was a trustee for the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc., Widener University, and Episcopal Academy in Merion, PA. Les graduated with a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo where he has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus.