Fortress Investment Group

Jack Neumark is Co-CEO, Managing Partner, and Co-Head of Asset-Based Finance at Fortress, where he serves on the Board of Directors and Leadership Committee. He joined the firm in 2010, started its Legal Assets business in 2013, and launched its Insurance Solutions business in 2021. Before Fortress, he was a Senior Vice President at Plainfield Asset Management and practiced law at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; he holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law.

Leads Fortress Investment Group's European operations and co-heads its European non-performing loans activity, commenting on the firm's decades of NPL investing and servicing experience.

Marc Furstein is Vice Chairman at Fortress Investment Group, based in Dallas, where he serves on the Leadership Committee and several investment committees. Before joining Fortress in July 2001, he co-founded and was Chief Operating Officer of specialty finance company American Commercial Capital and broker dealer Coronado Advisors, both sold to Wells Fargo in 2001, and earlier co-managed Goldman Sachs's opportunistic real estate loan business. He holds a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gunjan is a Managing Director and Partner at Fortress Investment Group. Gunjan works in special situations investing, with experience across the capital structure and multiple market cycles.

Hassen Arfaoui is a principal at 216 Capital specializing in early-stage investing within African startup ecosystems. He has deployed capital across fintech, logistics, SaaS B2B, healthtech, and edtech from pre-seed to Series A, combining institutional-grade fund management with high-growth African startup opportunities.

Briger is Executive Chairman of Fortress's Board of Directors and is quoted describing the firm's founding principles of patience, discipline, and investor focus.

Aaron Blanchette is Global Co-Head of Corporate Credit at Fortress, based in Dallas, and serves on the firm's Leadership Committee and several investment committees. He joined Fortress in 2005 as an investment analyst in the Corporate Loan and Corporate Securities groups and has spent about 18 years underwriting and originating middle market loans. He previously worked as a Portfolio Analyst at Highland Capital Management covering technology, healthcare, and financial services, and as a Director in Ernst & Young's restructuring advisory services group. He holds a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from Baylor University.

Ahsan Aijaz is Global Head of Net Lease at Fortress, which he joined in 2011, working primarily on net lease transactions along with lending and private equity deals across the US and Europe. He previously worked in the structured real estate group at a Los Angeles private equity firm and earlier as an investment banker at Butler, Wick & Co. and McDonald & Co. He holds a B.S. in Finance from The Ohio State University.

Alex Gillette is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Corporate Strategy at Fortress, where he works on business and product development and on expanding the firm's capital solutions for investors and institutions. He joined Fortress in 2008 in the legal department and served as Deputy General Counsel from 2014 to 2023, handling the formation and structuring of the firm's investment funds. Before Fortress, he spent six years at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP working on M&A, private equity, and venture capital transactions, and he holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Andrew Walsh serves as Chief Compliance Officer at Fortress Investment Group, where he oversees the firmwide global compliance program. He joined Fortress in 2010 and has held several senior compliance roles, with more than 25 years of experience in securities regulation and compliance. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Senior Securities Compliance Examiner for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in New York, and he holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Pace University.

Andy Frank is a Managing Director and Global Head of Origination who sits on multiple investment committees and invests across the capital structure in both public and private markets. He joined Fortress in 2016 after serving as a Managing Director at Cerberus, and previously held roles in investment banking, including Managing Director and Head of Syndication at Stifel Nicolaus and earlier positions at Merrill Lynch and Deloitte & Touche. He holds a degree from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.

Gaglione-Austin is a Managing Director and Chief Information and Technology Officer at Fortress, where she oversees global IT infrastructure, information security, business continuity, and the firm's AI and automation and cybersecurity efforts. She joined Fortress in 2021 after serving as Co-CTO at KKR, and previously worked at Credit Suisse Prime Brokerage, Nyfix/Renaissance Trading Technologies, Robertson Stephens, JPMorgan, and Chase Manhattan Private Bank. She holds a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from NYU's Stern School of Business.

Christopher Linkas is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group, where he serves as Co-Head of European Non-Performing Loan Strategy. Based in Madrid, he oversees the acquisition of non-performing and sub-performing loan pools and single tickets across the Euro-UK region, with investments spanning commercial real estate, shipping, renewables, leases, asset-backed holdings, servicer and platform investments, corporate and SME lending, and securities. He previously worked for Fortress in London from 2013 to 2022 and in New York from 2003 to 2013, focusing on opportunistic debt and equity investments.

Cyril Courbage is a Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Equity, Europe at Fortress Investment Group, which he joined in 2012. He previously spent 10 years at Deutsche Bank in London as European head of the Commercial Real Estate group, covering financing and special situation principal investments, and six years at Merrill Lynch in distressed debt and real estate principal investment. He holds an MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and a BA in International Economics from The American University of Paris.

Daniel Bass is Chief Financial Officer at Fortress Investment Group and serves on Corporate Management and other operating committees. He joined Fortress in November 2003 after eleven years at Deutsche Bank, where his roles included managing director of DB Capital Partners and Global Business Area Controller of the Corporate Investments Division, and earlier worked in the International Tax Practice at Coopers & Lybrand. He holds a B.S. and a Masters in Accounting from Florida State University.

Eli Edwards is a Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Equity, US at Fortress, which he joined in 2011, where he works on opportunistic equity and distressed debt acquisitions across property types and US geographies. He previously worked in real estate investment banking at Barclays and handled defaulted CMBS loans at Bank of America. He holds a B.S. in Economics from Duke University.

Chief Strategist at Fortress Investment Group, appointed in 2026. She previously worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management as a Client Investment Strategist (joining as a managing director in 2022), was CIO at the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii, and a managing director in the Quantitative Strategies Group at the Maryland State Retirement Agency.

Eric Golden is a Managing Director at Fortress and Co-Head of Asia and Co-Head of Japan Real Estate. Before joining Fortress in 2008, he worked in the private equity division of Credit Suisse Japan and previously at DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners (RECP), which he joined in 1999 and where he was a founding member of the Japan team from 2001 and helped develop the China business in 2003. He holds a B.A. in Mathematical Economics from Brown University.

Greg Shoemaker is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group, where he serves as Global Co-Head of Private Equity and works as a partner within the firm's credit funds business, participating in the origination, execution, and asset management of corporate debt, commercial real estate, and equity investments across industries. He also serves on the boards of several portfolio companies. Before joining Fortress, he co-led the structured products group at Coast Asset Management, where his responsibilities included managing and trading collateralized loan obligations and credit derivatives.

Jason Meyer is Chief Operating Officer at Fortress Investment Group, which he joined in 2007, and serves on the firm's Leadership Committee and several investment committees. He was previously a partner at Hampshire Equity Partners, worked at BT Capital Partners (the private equity arm of Bankers Trust Company), and began his career as a financial analyst in investment banking at Alex. Brown & Sons. He holds a B.S. from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Jeff Runnfeldt is Chief Investment Officer of Fortress Multi-Manager at Fortress Investment Group. He previously served as a Senior Advisor at Balyasny Asset Management, joining in July 2018, and was Global Head of Equities at Citadel, where he worked from 2002 to 2012 and managed a financials team and portfolio; he began his career as a Bank Examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Runnfeldt holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from California State University, Bakersfield, and a Master of Science in finance from San Francisco State University.

Joseph Dunn is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Legal Assets at Fortress, where he also serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Fortress Legal Assets business and concentrates on legal and litigation-related investments. Before joining Fortress in 2016, he worked as a commercial litigator, mainly at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in New York. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Ken Pierce is Co-Head of Insurance Solutions & Reinsurance at Fortress Investment Group, with more than 30 years of experience as an insurance and reinsurance executive, investment banker, and lawyer. His prior roles include CEO of a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurer, head of private asset structuring at a life insurer, and global head of the insurance practice at a global law firm. He has worked on the negotiation, structuring, and execution of reinsurance and structured finance transactions across the life and annuity and property and casualty sectors.

Leslee Cowen is a Managing Director in Corporate Securities at Fortress Investment Group, where she works on special situations and public and private transactions across the capital structure. Before joining Fortress in 2002, she worked at the Baupost Group on distressed debt and equity acquisitions and non-performing loan portfolios, and earlier held roles at The Argentum Group and The Blackstone Group. She holds a B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lucy Munro is a Managing Director at Fortress, serving as COO of Private Lending and Chief Data Officer, a role she joined in 2024. She previously led Credit Product for Global Wealth at Apollo and headed Investor Relations for the BDC (NYSE: TSLX) at Sixth Street. She began her career in investment banking within the leveraged finance and sponsor coverage groups at UBS and Deutsche Bank, and holds B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago.

Marc Fuhrmann is a Managing Director in Fortress's London office and Head of Real Estate Credit, Europe. Before returning to Fortress in 2024, he led real estate at Arrow Global, and he previously spent time at Fortress from 2007 to 2021 working on loan origination, asset management, CMBS trading, and real estate equity investments across Dallas, New York, and London. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Texas at Dallas and an MBA from London Business School.

Mark Lane is Global Head of Corporate Communications at Fortress, based in New York, where he oversees communications, brand, and corporate marketing globally. Before Fortress, he held leadership roles at Barclays, including Global Co-Head of Communications for its Corporate and Investment Banking businesses, and previously served as a lead spokesperson at Lehman Brothers in London and New York. He holds a B.A. (Hons) with Distinction in French Studies.

Matt Biczak is a Managing Director at Fortress, serving as Head of Specialty Finance for the Americas and Co-Chief Investment Officer for the firm's asset-backed credit strategy, where he works on providing capital solutions to specialty finance companies. Before joining Fortress in 2006, he was an Associate in the Asset Securitization Group at DZ Bank, handling asset management, surveillance, and funding duties on credit facilities. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Bucknell University.

Michael Fallacara is a Managing Director at Fortress and leads its Residential Securities and Whole Loans activities, overseeing residential whole loan and real property acquisitions. He joined Fortress in 2007 after serving as a Managing Director at Credit Suisse handling whole loan originations, and previously spent seven years as a Managing Director at Nomura Securities and nine years at Citicorp in residential and commercial real-estate roles. He holds a B.A. in Business from Rutgers University.

Ola Eriksson is a Managing Director and Head of Specialty Finance, Europe at Fortress, also serving as Co-Chief Investment Officer for the firm's asset-backed credit strategy, where he concentrates on legal and litigation-related investments and capital solutions for specialty finance companies. Before joining Fortress in May 2011, he worked at Mizuho International plc on private credit assets, and earlier held roles in structured corporate finance at Citigroup and in tax and corporate law at Mannheimer Swartling in Stockholm. He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Lund in Sweden and attended the University of London.

Pradip Ghosh is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Insurance Solutions at Fortress, where he oversees the firm's insurance strategy, including investment solutions for insurance companies and investments in insurance and reinsurance platforms. He has more than 25 years of experience across insurance, asset management and financial services, having previously served on the Executive Leadership Team at American Equity Life and held senior roles at Ares Management and Lehman Brothers. He holds a B.A. in Economics-Mathematics from Columbia University.

Robin Quittell is Chief Human Resources Officer and Counsel at Fortress, which she joined in 2007, and she serves on the firm's Leadership Committee and Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She previously served on the Fortress in-house legal team as Head Compensation and Benefits Counsel and earlier worked in the executive compensation and benefits groups at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Morrison Cohen LLP. She holds an A.B. from Duke University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Scott Werthamer is a Managing Director at Fortress and Head of the Client & Product Solutions Group, overseeing institutional sales, product management, and the Private Wealth Solutions business. He joined the firm in 2008 and has focused on capital formation, fundraising, and client relationships, and sits on the firm's ESG and cybersecurity steering committees. Earlier in his career he worked at Morgan Stanley's Global Fund Derivatives Group, Fortis Bank, and Ivy Asset Management, and he holds a B.B.A. in Finance from The George Washington University.

Spencer Garfield is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group and Global Co-Head of Commercial Real Estate Credit, overseeing a team focused on real estate credit originations, structuring, syndication, and preferred equity investing. Before joining Fortress in 2013, he spent 12 years at Hudson Realty Capital LLC as a Managing Director handling loan originations, equity investments, and business development. He holds a B.S. from the University of Colorado and a master's degree in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University, where he also served as an adjunct professor.

Travis Polk is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Corporate Strategy at Fortress, which he joined in 2023 to work on business and product builds and to expand the firm's capital solutions offerings. He previously spent six years at Sixth Street, where he co-led the Strategy & Planning Group, and earlier worked in J.P. Morgan's Mergers & Acquisitions practice and KPMG's Transaction Services Advisory group. He holds a B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.

Christian Olson is President at Business Navigational Solutions and a Strategic Advisor at Baroda Ventures. His background includes international and domestic business development, strategic planning, financial analysis, and technology development within the global defense industry, with experience at two defense contractors and a Fortune 500 financial company. His work has covered areas including product development, corporate acquisitions, and international sales and marketing.

David Bohnett, GeoCities co-founder behind a multibillion-dollar exit, applies founder-operator experience through an exit-funded family-office/VC, integrating his foundation and supporting tech teams pursuing positive societal impact and historically-informed community perspective.