A DIVISION OF WHP GLOBAL FOUNDED IN 2020

Turnkey e-commerce platform for global consumer brands

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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.

CO-FOUNDER & BOARD MEMBER

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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Hank Sneddon is a Vice President at Oaktree Capital Management and a board member of WHP Global. Prior to joining Oaktree, he was a member of the Restructuring & Special Situations group at PJT Partners. Mr. Sneddon holds an A.B. in Mathematics from Harvard College.

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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Jordan Smith is a Partner in the Ares Private Equity Group. Prior to joining Ares in 2011, Mr. Smith was an Analyst at Lazard, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions across various industries. Mr. Smith currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, LaserAway and WHP Global. Previously, Mr. Smith served on the Board of Directors of DevaCurl, Farrow & Ball, Insight Global and Valet Living. Mr. Smith holds a B.S. with high honors from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
BOARD MEMBER

Aaron Rosen

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Mr. Rosen is a Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager of Special Opportunities in the Ares Private Equity Group, where he focuses on investing across the various Ares fund platforms in the public and private markets. Mr. Rosen serves as a member of the Ares Private Equity Group’s Corporate Opportunities and Special Opportunities Investment Committees. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Savers Value Village, Inc., and the parent entities of Integrated Power Services, Panoramic Health, Hornbeck Offshore Services and WHP Global. Prior to joining Ares in 2018, Mr. Rosen was a Partner and Director of Research at Archview Investment Group, where he focused on credit and equity investments in both in the U.S. and internationally. Prior to Archview, Mr. Rosen was a Vice President at Citigroup, where he was a founding member of the Citibank Global Special Situations Group focused on U.S. credit and value equity investment strategies. In addition, Mr. Rosen was a member of Citigroup’s Asset-Based Finance group, where he focused on structuring senior secured debt financings for non-investment grade corporate borrowers. Mr. Rosen holds a B.S., summa cum laude, from New York University’s Stern School of Business in Finance and Information Systems, where he received the Valedictorian Award.

WHP+ Advisory Board

Andy Dunn

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Andy Dunn co-founded the menswear brand Bonobos in 2007 and served as the company’s CEO for ten years. Built on a pair of better-fitting men’s pants, Bonobos was the first digitally native, direct-to-consumer brand created in the US. The company pioneered both the digital approach to brand building and the reinvention of physical retail with its experiential guideshops. In 2017, Walmart acquired Bonobos for $310 million. Andy served as Walmart’s SVP of digital brands for three years following the deal. As an angel investor and through the seed fund he co-founded, Red Swan, Andy has backed eighty startups over the last ten years. Andy’s focus has been on zeitgeist changing consumer companies with notable investments in Warby Parker, Harry’s, Away, Glossier, Hinge, Alula, Real, and Ethena. A new dad, Andy is Chairman at Monica + Andy, an organic and sustainable baby apparel company where his sister Monica Royer is founder and CEO. Andy majored in Economics & History at Northwestern University. He began his career at Bain & Company and in private equity before earning an MBA from Stanford.

Todd Lutwak

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Todd Lutwak is the Senior Vice-President of Platform & Business Development at ServiceChannel. Prior to his current role, Todd was a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he led the Consumer Market Development team, and focused on helping portfolio companies define, build, and implement go-to-market programs. Before joining Andreessen Horowitz, Todd was the Vice-President of Selling at eBay, where he was responsible for the selling experience including strategy, pricing, seller marketing, daily deals, and other seller acquisition, development, and retention programs. In addition to his MBA degree from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Todd has a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

Erinn Murphy

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Erinn Murphy is a managing director leading the consumer equity capital markets group at Piper Sandler. Murphy previously held the position of managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Sandler covering global fashion and lifestyle brands. Murphy was raised in the Middle East and is passionate about international markets and has a strong affinity for languages with competencies in both French and Arabic. Murphy joined Piper Sandler in January 2005 as an associate analyst in the retail sector. In December 2008, she expanded her international experience by joining ExxonMobil’s gas & power marketing group as a natural gas negotiator and a senior supply/demand planner. Murphy re-joined Piper Sandler in 2011. In 2013, she was recognized by Institutional Investor as a “Rising Star” on the All-American Research Team. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and French from Calvin College.

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.

Rick Watson

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Rick Watson is the CEO and Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting, LLC, a boutique strategic eCommerce consultancy based in New York City. He provides advice and guidance to firms across the eCommerce industry, primarily in the areas of Direct-to-Consumer operation build-out for investors and the C-Suite, B2B marketing for software and service firms, and strategy regarding eCommerce marketplaces.

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