Chief Executive Officer, Ripplewood Advisors LLC
Mr. Collins is the CEO of Ripplewood Advisors LLC, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings LLC, which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies globally, including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totaling over $30 billion in enterprise value. Ripplewood played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening several prominent financial institutions including: AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt and Shinsei Bank of Japan. Ripplewood has invested in a broad range of industries including: telecom, food, real estate, consumer electronics, chemicals and automotive. Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies.
Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Cummins Engine Company, Lazard Frères & Company and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. Mr. Collins has served on a number of public company boards including RHJ International, Gogo Inc., Citigroup [after it accepted public funds], Commercial International Bank of Egypt, Shinsei Bank Ltd., Asbury Automotive, Advanced Auto and Rental Services Corp. Mr. Collins also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.
Mr. Collins sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi, EFG Hermes and SODIC. He is the
Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards and the Trilateral Commission. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for YSOM, Co-chair of the Advisory Council of the Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Mr. Collins has a BA in Philosophy from DePauw University and an MBA in Public and Private Management from Yale University’s School of Management. Mr. Collins received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in 2004 and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow at New York University. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School and is Senior Fellow and Director of the Henry P. Becton Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Management.