Alexander Knaster

Alexander Knaster
Born (1959-02-19) February 19, 1959
Residence London
Nationality British[1]
Education BS Carnegie Mellon University
MBA Harvard Business School
Occupation Investment manager
Known for Founder of Pamplona Capital Management
Net worth Increase US$ 2.2 billion (March 2014)[2]
Spouse(s) Irina Knaster
Children Four

Alexander Knaster (born 19 February 1959) is an international billionaire businessman, founder of Pamplona Capital Management.

Biography

Knaster was born in Moscow in 1959 to a Jewish family of academics.[3] His father, Mark Knaster, who held several patents relating to metal coatings, batteries and solar cells, worked in a number of respected scientific institutions, including USC. His mother, Tatyana Knaster, is a civil engineer who taught at Pennsylvania Institute of Technology.[4][5]

Knaster immigrated to the United States at the age of 16 with his family.[3] He graduated with a B.S. electric engineering and mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University which he attended on a scholarship.[3] In 1980, he accepted a job as an engineer with Schlumberger working on their oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.[3]

After graduating in 1985 with an MBA from Harvard Business School and working at several investment banks, he returned to Russia in 1995 to work as CEO of the Russian branch of Credit Suisse First Boston.[3][6] He also earned a PhD in Economics from the Russian Academy of Science. In 1998, he resigned from CSFB and accepted an offer from Mikhail Fridman to become CEO at Alfa Bank.[3] He was very successful and due to his background in investment banking, Knaster established Pamplona Capital Management in 2004, in which the Alfa Group would invest some of its profit[3] (he chose the name Pamplona after the Pamplona San-Fermin Festival which he attended after graduating from Harvard Business School).[3] His investor pool has since grown beyond Alfa. As of 2013, Pamplona managed over $6.5 billion in assets of which $2.0 billion belongs to the Alfa Group.[3] Knaster also serves as Executive Fellow, London Business School, member of faculty at Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship.[7]

Philanthropy

Knaster is an active philanthropist, who has made significant contributions to different academic institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard Business School, where he serves as a regional Campaign Leadership volunteer. In 1993, Knaster established the Alexander M. Knaster Scholarship Fund for undergraduates in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2011, in partnership with fellow alumnus Bruce McWilliams, Knaster helped to establish the Knaster-McWilliams scholarships, which allow for increased access to faculty and early research opportunities in addition to tuition assistance. The Alexander M. Knaster Professorship in Mathematical sciences is named in his honor.[8][9]

Knaster along with Stan Polovets and three fellow Russian Jewish billionaires, Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven, and German Khan, founded the Genesis Philanthropy Group whose purpose is to develop and enhance Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.[10][11] Knaster later served as chairman of the board for the Genesis Philanthropy Group.[12]

Knaster has also generously supported the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Dr. Maria I. New Children’s Hormone Foundation, which supports research, physician education, and the cost of care for children suffering from genetic hormonal disorders.[13][14][15]

In 2014 Knaster established The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. He has transferred the bulk of his assets to it and plans to develop it to become a leading global donor to the early stage cancer research.[16]

Personal life

Knaster is married to Irina Knaster; they have four children.[2] He lives in New York City, New York[2]

References

  1. ↑ International Business Times, The 2015 Sunday Times Rich List: UK hedge fund billionaires almost double, April 24, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/2015-sunday-times-rich-list-uk-hedge-fund-billionaires-almost-double-1498147
  2. 1 2 3 "Alexander Knaster". Forbes. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Russia Beyond the Headlines: "A Russian American invests in Europe" by Irina Mokrousova July 12, 2013
  4. ↑ "Patent EP0171538A3 - Compositions and processes for coating ferrous surfaces with copper - Google Patents". Google.com. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  5. ↑ "Mark B. Knaster - Profile - SAE International". Profiles.sae.org. 1986-02-01. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  6. ↑ "Pamplona Capital Management > Alex Knaster". Pamplonafunds.com. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  7. ↑ "Pamplona Capital Management > Alex Knaster". Pamplonafunds.com. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  8. ↑ "Campus News in Brief - The Tartan Online". Thetartan.org. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  9. ↑ http://www.cmu.edu/mcs/news/magazine/pdf/mcsnews-2007dec.pdf
  10. ↑ New York Times: "Russians Join Israel to Start Jewish Prize of $1 Million" by David M. Herszenhorn June 26, 2012
  11. ↑ Yad Vashem: "Ceremony Marking the Cooperation between Yad Vashem and the Genesis Philanthrophy Group" June 12, 2009
  12. ↑ "Genesis Philanthropy group to promote Jewish identity in Russian-speaking children through summers at camp :: Genesis Philanthropy Group". Gpg.org. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  13. ↑ https://www.dana-farber.org/uploadedFiles/Library/modules/publications/2012-honor-roll.pdf
  14. ↑ "Genotype–phenotype correlation in 1,507 families with congenital adrenal hyperplasia owing to 21-hydroxylase deficiency". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  15. ↑ "newchf.org". newchf.org. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  16. ↑ Alexander Knaster, Forbes Profile, accessed May 14, 2015, http://www.forbes.com/profile/alexander-knaster/

External links

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