MANAGEMENT
MICHAEL MAHAN
Chief Executive Officer
Michael Mahan is our Chief Executive Officer and serves as a director. Mr. Mahan is currently the Vice Chairman of dick clark productions (dcp), previously having served as CEO and/or President of the company for the past 7 years. Prior to dick clark productions, Mr. Mahan was President of the TV Guide Network and tvguide.com and led the organization on behalf of One Equity (JP Morgan) and Lionsgate. Prior to TV Guide, Mr. Mahan led corporate and business development efforts for dcp. He previously worked in private equity where Mr. Mahan led and managed a number of investments on behalf of Caisse de dépôt.
Mr. Mahan also worked in digital media, specifically with eWanted.com and Checkout.com. He began his career as an investment banker at Bear Stearns after graduating from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics. Mr. Mahan is currently an owner / investor in a number of media, sports, gaming.
ALLEN SHAPIRO
Co-Chairman
Allen Shapiro serves as Co-Chairman. Mr. Shapiro currently manages Celebrands, LLC, an investment firm launched in 2020 in partnership with Mr. Howard, which specializes in acquiring and building celebrity consumer brands. Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Howard, in their individual and collective capacities, have recently invested in notable celebrity-backed brands including, among others, Aviation Gin with Ryan Reynolds. In 2000, Mr. Shapiro founded Mosaic Media Group, a talent management and production company representing artists including Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Green Day, and Alanis Morissette and producing such films as Get Smart and The Dark Knight. While at Mosaic Media Group, Mr. Shapiro facilitated the leveraged buyout of dcp from Dick Clark, and ultimately became Chief Executive Officer of dcp.
In 2007, Mosaic Media sold dcp to RedZone and Six Flags and later reacquired the business alongside Guggenheim Partners and Mandalay Entertainment in 2012. In addition to dcp, Mr. Shapiro also acquired the TV Guide Network with One Equity Partners and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. in 2009, served as Chairman, and later sold the business to CBS Corporation. Mr. Shapiro received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his JD from Northwestern University School of Law.
JOHN HOWARD
Co-Chairman
John Howard serves as Co-Chairman. Mr. Howard is a Co-Managing Partner of Irving Place Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm. He has more than 30 years of private equity investing experience and has invested significant capital in the consumer products, retail, and industrial industries. In partnership with Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Howard also co-manages Celebrands. Mr. Howard founded the Bear Stearns Merchant Banking Group in 1997, which ultimately became Irving Place Capital in 2008. Prior to Irving Place Capital, Mr. Howard was the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Vestar Capital Partners, a private equity firm with a history of investments in the consumer sector. Previously, Mr. Howard was a Senior Vice President and Partner of Wesray Capital Corporation, one of the foremost private equity sponsors and a pioneer in the leveraged buyout business. Mr. Howard currently sits on the Board of Directors for rag & bone, Frame Denim, Good American, SKIMS, Veronica Beard, Bendon and Wolf & Shepherd.
Mr. Howard previously served on the board of directors of RTW Tailwinds, Inc. (formerly known as New York & Company, Inc.) from 2005 to April 2020.
HAHN LEE
Chief Financial Officer
Hahn Lee is our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. Mr. Lee is an experienced corporate development and strategy executive and former senior equity research associate and investment banker. Mr. Lee has deep subject matter expertise in consumer Internet marketplaces and digital real estate technology having served as Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for realtor.com from 2018 to May 2020 (after joining as SVP in 2015), the second largest digital real estate portal in the U.S. and division of News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA). Earlier, Mr. Lee spent 20 years in the media and entertainment space, helping television networks and studios transition to digital business models. He started his career in the Corporate Alliances group at The Walt Disney Company. Mr. Lee also covered the digital media and video game sectors as a senior equity research associate at Jefferies and was an investment banker with Bear, Stearns.
He is currently enrolled in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Mr. Lee received his MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA and B.A. in Business-Economics from UCLA, where he graduated summa cum laude.