Golnar Khosrowshahi
Chief Executive Officer
Golnar Khosrowshahi, 49, is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Ms. Khosrowshahi founded Reservoir in 2007 and is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Reservoir. Under Ms. Khosrowshahi’s leadership, Reservoir has grown to own and administer over 130,000 copyrights and over 30,000 master recordings, with titles dating as far back as 1900. Ms. Khosrowshahi continues to lead the team in building a well-attended roster and an established catalog and was one of Billboard’s Most Powerful Female Executives for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and a Billboard Indie Power Player for 2017 and 2018. Furthermore, under Ms. Khosrowshahi’s leadership, Reservoir was awarded Publisher of the Year by Music Business Worldwide’s The A&R Awards in 2017 and 2019 and won Independent Publisher of the Year at the 2020 MusicWeek Awards. Prior to her foray into the music industry, Ms. Khosrowshahi worked in a number of different roles in advertising, design and experiential marketing. In addition to her role as the Chief Executive Officer of Reservoir, Ms. Khosrowshahi serves as a member of the board of directors of the National Music Publishers’ Association, which is an association that works to ensure fair compensation and property rights for songwriters and their representatives. She sits on the National Music Publishers’ Association’s SONGS Foundation Board of directors, working alongside musical talent including Steven Tyler, Jewel and Kara DioGuardi to raise funds to support career songwriters. Working alongside artist director and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Ms. Khosrowshahi served as board chair of Silkroad, a non-profit organization formed in 2000, and now serves as a director. In addition, she sits on ASCAP’s board of review. Ms. Khosrowshahi also is a member of the boards of directors of Reservoir’s various subsidiaries and affiliates. Furthermore, she is involved in a number of educational institutions, including being a Trustee Emeritus of Pearson College, one of the United World Colleges located in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, a Director Emeritus of the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation in Toronto, Canada, a former member of the President’s Advisory Council at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and a former Trustee of the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation at the Columbia University Center for Iranian Studies in New York City. In 2018, Ms. Khosrowshahi was elected to the board of directors of Restaurant Brands International Inc. and, in 2021, she was named a member of the board of directors of Nomad Foods. Ms. Khosrowshahi also served on the inaugural Steering Committee for the Asia Society’s Triennial of Asia. Ms. Khosrowshahi received her BA from Bryn Mawr College and her MBA from Columbia University.
Rell Lafargue
President, Chief Operating Officer
Rell Lafargue, 49, is the President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Mr. Lafargue has been the President and Chief Operating Officer of Reservoir since October 2013 and oversees all aspects of Reservoir’s day to-day operations in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, London and Abu Dhabi. When Mr. Lafargue joined Reservoir in 2008, the company represented four songwriters and 2,000 songs. Building on over twenty years of industry experience, Mr. Lafargue built Reservoir’s infrastructure, established its administration systems and developed the international network that oversees Reservoir’s copyrights to this day. Under his direction, Reservoir has grown to own and administer over 130,000 copyrights and over 30,000 master recordings, with titles dating as far back as 1900. Mr. Lafargue continues to spearhead Reservoir’s international and domestic expansion efforts, having overseen the acquisitions and integrations of the historic Shapiro Bernstein catalog, TVT Music Publishing catalog, First State Media Group catalog, UK publishers Reverb Music and P&P Songs and iconic record labels, Philly Groove Records and Chrysalis Records. In addition, Mr. Lafargue was instrumental in signing Nate “Danja” Hills, one of Reservoir’s first high-profile writer-producers, to the Reservoir roster. From 2005 until 2008, Mr. Lafargue was a Vice President at TVT Records and TVT Music Publishing, where he worked with artists including Nine Inch Nails, Lil Jon, Snoop Dogg, Scott Storch and Pitbull. Mr. Lafargue is a member of the board of directors and the compensation committee of Reservoir and a member of the boards of directors of Reservoir’s various subsidiaries and affiliates. He has also served on the board of directors and publisher nominating committee of the Mechanical Licensing Collective since March 2020, the Association of Independent Music Publishers — New York Chapter since December 2018 and the board of directors of Music Publishers Canada since March 2018, working to promote the interests of music publishers and their songwriting partners. Beyond his career in music publishing, Mr. Lafargue is an accomplished producer, performer, arranger, software consultant and university lecturer. He holds a master’s degree in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Louisiana.
Ezra S. Field
Director
Ezra S. Field, 51, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Mr. Field has been a Senior Advisor of Roark Capital Group since December 2020. He joined Roark Capital Group in 2007 and served in a variety of roles, including the Chief Investment Officer and the Co-Chief Investment Officer from April 2016 until December 2020. Previously, he worked at ACI Capital Co. from 2001 until 2007. Mr. Field was an entrepreneur and venture capitalist with TeachScape and Open Venture Group in 2000. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ralph K. Winter, Chief Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, from 1998 until 1999. Mr. Field currently serves on the board of directors of Mursion, a leader in immersive virtual reality training for emotional intelligence in the workplace, since February 2021. He served on the board of directors of GAM Holdings, A.G., a public company based in Switzerland, from 2016 until 2019. In addition, Mr. Field has served on a number of boards of directors at Roark Capital Group and ACI Capital Co. Since 2014, Mr. Field has served on the board of directors of the not-for-profit Business Executives for National Security. His prior not-for-profit board experience includes serving on the board of directors for Global Kids from 2014 until 2019, the board of trustees for the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women Support Foundation from 2008 until 2015 and the board of trustees of the Asian University for Women Support Foundation from 2003 until 2012. Mr. Field served as an Adjunct Professor at Pace Law School in 2005, where he taught mergers and acquisitions. He earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1998, where he was a Senior Review and Essay Editor for the Columbia Law Review, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a John M. Olin Law & Economics Fellow. He earned his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in the same year, where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honorary Society. Mr. Field earned his B.A., with honors, from Wesleyan University in 1991.
Neil de Gelder
Director
Neil de Gelder, 68, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Since January 2021, Mr. de Gelder has served as the vice chair of the board of directors of Stern Partners Inc., a Vancouver-based private investment firm with a portfolio of controlling interests in numerous operating companies across a wide range of industry sectors, including manufacturing, distribution, retailing, environmental services, publishing and printing and real estate development. Prior to his retirement in December 2020, Mr. de Gelder served as the Executive Vice President of Stern Partners Inc. from 2005, where he held senior executive roles with responsibilities for various activities, including strategic advice to operating companies, acquisitions and divestitures and capital deployment generally. In addition, Mr. de Gelder is a director of Highgate Investments LLC, which will own approximately 1.5% of the Combined Company following consummation of the Business Combination. Mr. de Gelder has provided conflict of interest advisory services to TransLink, the largest public transportation services provider in British Columbia, since 2008. He also provided conflict of interest advisory services to HSBC Global Asset Management (Canada) Inc., the portfolio manager of HSBC’s Canadian mutual funds, from 2015 until March 2021. Previously, Mr. de Gelder worked in private legal practice from 1990 until 2005, specializing in public company financing, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate governance for clients across a variety of industry sectors. He was frequently identified as a leading lawyer in Canada in his field and was appointed Queen’s Counsel by British Columbia’s Attorney General in 1999. Mr. de Gelder began his legal career in 1978 and practiced corporate and commercial law until 1987, when he was appointed the Executive Director of the British Columbia Securities Commission, where he led its regulatory, policy and enforcement operations, until 1990. Mr. de Gelder serves as an independent director and, since 2012, has chaired the nominating and governance committee and served as a member of the audit committee of Pan American Silver Corp., a Nasdaq- and TSX-listed precious metals mining company with operations in Latin America, Mexico and Canada. He was also the vice chair of the board of directors and the chair of the governance committee of ICBC, a multi-billion-dollar auto insurer owned by the Province of British Columbia, from 2004 until 2011. Mr. deGelder also served as the chair of the board of directors and the chair of the audit committee of Discovery Fund VCC, a public, unlisted venture capital fund for British Columbia-based technology companies, from 2002 until 2016. He received his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. Mr. deGelder is well qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media due to his four decades of legal, regulatory and investment experience in the public and private markets both domestically and internationally as well as his experience serving on the boards of directors of public and private companies.
Adam Rothstein
Director
Adam Rothstein, 49, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Mr. Rothstein served as a member of the board of directors of Roth CH Acquisition I Co. (NASDAQ: ROCH) from May 2020 until March 2021 and is a member of the board of directors of Roth CH Acquisition III Co. (NASDAQ: ROCR) since March 2021, each of which is a special purpose acquisition company. Mr. Rothstein is a Co-Founder and General Partner of Disruptive Technology Partners, an Israeli technology-focused early-stage investment fund, and Disruptive Growth, a collection of late-stage investment vehicles focused on Israeli technology, which he co-founded in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Since September 2020, Mr. Rothstein has also been the Executive Chairman of 890 5th Avenue Partners, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company focused on the media and entertainment sectors, which completed its public offering in January 2021. Since 2014, Mr. Rothstein has been the Managing Member of 1007 Mountain Drive Partners, LLC, which is a consulting and investment vehicle. Previously, from July 2019 until January 2021, Mr. Rothstein was a director of Subversive Capital Acquisition Corp. (NEO: SVC.A.U) (OTCQX: SBVCF), a special purpose acquisition company that partnered with Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter and Roc Nation in January 2021 to acquire CMG Partners Inc. and Left Coast Ventures, Inc., and which now trades as TPCO Holding Corp. (NEO: GRAM.U) (OTCQX: GRAMF). Mr. Rothstein has over 20 years of investment experience, and currently sits on the boards of directors of several early- and mid-stage technology and media companies both in the United States and in Israel and is on the Advisory Board for the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Mr. Rothstein graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and has a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Finance from the University of Cambridge. Mr. Rothstein is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media due to his two decades of investment experience in the public and private markets both domestically and internationally.
Ryan P. Taylor
Director
Ryan P. Taylor, 45, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Mr. Taylor has served on the board of directors of Reservoir since April 2019. He has been the Managing Partner of Richmond Hill Investment Co., LP since its founding in 2010 and has also served as a Managing Director of Richmond Hill Investments, LLC since its founding in 2008. Richmond Hill is based in New York City and is a registered investment adviser that manages private investment partnerships that invest on an opportunistic basis across a variety of industries and asset classes. Before joining Richmond Hill, Mr. Taylor worked at the global investment bank, Greenhill & Co. Inc., from 1998 until 2008, most recently as a Principal. Mr. Taylor has served on the board of directors of Tommy Boy Music, LLC since 2017 and serves on the board of directors of a number of private companies, including several involved in the music business. He earned a B.B.A. in Finance with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. We believe Mr. Taylor is well qualified to serve as a member of the board of directors of the Combined Company due to his extensive investment experience in the music industry, his experience investing in the public and private markets, as well as his experience serving on the boards of directors of public and private companies.
Stephen Cook
Director
Stephen Cook, 45, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Mr. Cook has served on the board of directors of Reservoir since April 2019. He has been an investment partner at Slate Path Capital, an investment firm based in New York that he co-founded, since 2012. Prior to co-founding Slate Path Capital, Mr. Cook worked at Blue Ridge Capital from 2005 until 2012. Prior to receiving his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in May 2005, Mr. Cook worked at Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in Dallas, Texas, where he focused on leveraged buy-outs and corporate restructuring. He began his career as an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston working on corporate mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Cook received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in May 2005 and his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Texas. Mr. Cook is well qualified to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Reservoir Media due to his extensive investment experience in the public and private markets.
Jennifer G. Koss
Director
Jennifer G. Koss, 43, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Ms. Koss has served as a Founding Partner of Springbank Collective, an early stage investment firm focused on gender equality, since 2020. She has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of BRIKA, an experiential retail agency, since she co-founded the company in 2012. Previously, Ms. Koss worked for over a decade in management consulting and investment banking as an Associate at The Bridgespan Group, a Senior Investment Associate at Ontario Teachers' Private Capital and a Senior Associate at the Parthenon Group LLC. Ms. Koss has served on the board of directors and as a member of the audit committee for Komplett Group, a Norwegian e-commerce company, since 2020 and has served on the board of directors and as a member of the audit and governance committees for Dream Unlimited, a public Canadian real estate company, since 2014. She has served on the board of directors of Møller Eiendom, a Norwegian real estate portfolio company, since 2021. She has also served on the board of directors for Active Brands AS, a sports apparel and equipment company, Senscom, a Norwegian healthcare technology company, and Sneakersnstuff, a shoe and streetwear company, since 2020. Ms. Koss has served as a trustee and member of the finance committee for the National Ballet of Canada since 2018. She also served as a trustee and member of the audit and finance committee of the Art Gallery of Ontario from 2017 until 2020. Ms. Koss holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPhil from the University of Oxford and an A.B. from Harvard University.
Helima Croft
Director
Helima Croft, is a member of the board of directors of Reservoir Media. Ms. Croft is a Managing Director and the Head of Global Commodity Strategy and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Research at RBC Capital Markets. She specializes in geopolitics and energy, leading a team of commodity strategists that cover energy, metals and cross-commodity investor activity. Ms. Croft is a member of the National Petroleum Council, a select group of individuals who advise, inform and make recommendations to the Secretary of Energy with respect to any matter relating to oil and natural gas. She also is a CNBC contributor, a member of the channel’s exclusive family of experts, is on the Board of Directors for the Atlantic Council, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Croft joined RBC Capital Markets from Barclays, where she was a Managing Director and Head of North American Commodities Research. Prior to that, she worked in Lehman’s Business Intelligence group, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Central Intelligence Agency, where she focused on geopolitics and commodities. Ms. Croft has received many industry accolades throughout her career and received her PhD in economic history from Princeton in 2001.