I was born in San Nicolas Argentina. I moved to Rochester, New York when I was 5 years old. I went to grammar school (St. Andrew's) and high school (Bishop Kearney) in Rochester. I was active in Theatrics, Band, Boy Scouts and a variety of extracurricular activities and was recognized for academic excellence.
I then attend General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) graduating in 1976. I received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree with honors, and had a minor in electrical engineering. I was an officer in a fraternity (Delta Tau Delta), and officer in student government and very active in extracurricular activities.
I then worked as a Project Engineer for Delco Products division of General Motors Corp. During that time I attended night school at University of Rochester in pursuit of an MBA. I received a General Motors Fellowship to attend Harvard Business School. I graduated with an MBA from Harvard in 1979.
I accepted a position of Executive Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions at Niederhoffer, Cross and Zeckhauser (NCZ) in New York City. NCZ pioneered middle market M&A.
In 1981, I acquired a Triple I, Inc. in Oklahoma City, OK. It was a small troubled business that had never made money. I made money the first day, and it became very successful changing its name to Phi Technologies, Inc.
In 1986 I acquired Gibson Guitar which was very unprofitable and rapidly losing market share. I made money day one and the company has had a compound annual growth rate in excess of 20% since then. Gibson is now number one in electric guitars, and continue to accrue market share. Gibson bought Baldwin Piano, Wurlitzer (jukeboxes, vending machines) and many well know musical instrument brand names. It is now a global enterprise approaching $1 billion in revenues.
I believe in strong and aggressive leadership, and in the pursuit of excellence. As Chairman and CEO of Gibson I continue to be a change agent leading with innovation and turning difficult situations into highly successful ones.
I also believe deeply, that we who are fortunate, owe an obligation to give back to society and the communities in which we are citizens. I pursue a better world though the policies and practices at Gibson, through the Gibson Foundation and many philanthropic organizations which I support and participate in.
