A DIVISION OF WHP GLOBAL FOUNDED IN 2020

Turnkey e-commerce platform for global consumer brands

LEADERSHIP
WHP Global Board of Directors
CHAIRMAN & CEO

Yehuda Shmidman
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Yehuda Shmidman is a veteran of the brand management industry, having successfully deployed more than USD $3 billion of capital over nearly two decades into acquiring, growing and monetizing global consumer brands.
His experience expanded during his career to multiple consumer segments including fashion, hardgoods, toys, home, wellness, media, celebrity, sports and electronics, with direct leadership over dozens of world famous brands including TOYS“R”US, ANNE KLEIN, MARTHA STEWART and PEANUTS.
Yehuda currently serves as Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of WHP Global, a New York based brand management firm founded in 2019 together with Oaktree Capital and is also now backed by Ares and BlackRock. WHP Global’s brand portfolio generates over USD $6.5 billion in annual retail sales, and includes JOE’S JEANS, ANNE KLEIN, JOSEPH ABBOUD, EXPRESS, ISAAC MIZRAHI, LOTTO, TOYS“R”US and BABIES“R”US. WHP Global is also parent to WHP+, a turnkey e-commerce platform, and WHP SOLUTIONS, a sourcing agency based in Asia.
Yehuda has served on multiple public and private boards, both commercial and nonprofit, and he angel invests from time to time. He currently is a member of the board of directors of Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR), an active board member and executive committee member of the Fashion Scholarship Fund, and sits on the board of Wave Hill, a public garden & cultural center in New York.
Over the years, Fortune Magazine and Crain’s New York both included Yehuda in their prestigious “40 Under 40” lists, and multiple universities – including Columbia University, NYU Stern School of Business and Fordham Law School – have featured Yehuda as a guest lecturer to deliver insights into the future of consumer brands and the retail industry.
Yehuda holds a B.A. degree magna cum laude from Yeshiva University in New York.

Thomas Casarella
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Thomas Casarella is a Managing Director and Assistant Portfolio Manager at Oaktree Capital Management. Prior to joining Oaktree in 2012, he served as Deputy Chief Restructuring Officer at the United States Department of the Treasury. Before that, Mr. Casarella was a member of the Private Equity group at Brookfield Asset Management, following earlier career roles Lazard and Goldman Sachs.
He is a board member of Boardriders, Crossroads Building Supply and Kondaur Capital Management, Techstyle Fashion Group, and WHP Global. Mr. Casarella is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Bureau. Mr. Casarella holds an A.B. degree summa cum laude from Bowdoin College, an M.A. degree in economics from Oxford University, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. He is also a CFA charterholder.
BOARD MEMBER

Hank Sneddon
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BOARD MEMBER

Christopher Pucillo
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Christopher Pucillo is President, Chief Investment Officer, and Founder of Solus Alternative Asset Management LP. Solus is a multi-billion dollar SEC-registered, independent investment management company overseeing investments on behalf of institutional investors. Mr. Pucillo founded Solus in 2007 after more than a decade of high yield, leveraged loan and distressed investing. Prior to Solus, he served as Head of Hedge Fund Strategies at Stanfield Capital Partners.
Mr. Pucillo began his career at Bankers Trust where he was responsible for the structuring and negotiation of leveraged loans and helped establish the firm’s high yield loan trading business. He went on to serve as Head of High Yield Loan Trading at Morgan Stanley and was instrumental in launching its leveraged loan effort. Mr. Pucillo was one of the four founding members of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association and formerly served as an Executive Committee Member.
Mr. Pucillo is a board member of Bristow Group, Next Wave, and WHP Global. Mr. Pucillo received a BA in Economics from Lafayette College in 1989, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.
BOARD MEMBER

Jordan Smith
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Aaron Rosen
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WHP+ Advisory Board

Andy Dunn
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Todd Lutwak
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Erinn Murphy
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HEAD OF MARKETING & WHP+ ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Jameel Spencer
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Jameel Spencer is an award-winning veteran brand builder, who has played pivotal business roles for Shaquille O’Neal, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Simpson over the last 25 years. At WHP Global, Jameel leads the creative marketing, celebrity talent development, and Diversity & Inclusion efforts across the brand portfolio.
He is the Founder and CEO of the marketing agency Writeful Place. His agency scripts narratives for personalities, brands, and businesses looking to realize unexploited revenue potential.
