Ken Fox

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Ken Fox
Born Kenneth Allen Fox
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States[1]
Education The Pennsylvania State University[1]
Occupation •Co-founder & former Managing Director of Internet Capital Group (ICG)
• Managing Partner of Stripes Group
• Co-founder and Chairman of Syndero
• Former Executive Chairman of SmartWool
•Co-founder of A-10 Capital
• Co-founder of Sentinel Fund

Kenneth Allen "Ken" Fox is an American business man best known as an entrepreneur and investor. He was a co-founder of Internet Capital Group who has gone on to form Stripes Group, Sentinel Fund, Syndero and A10 Capital.[1][2]

Early life

Fox grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he started his first business at the age of 15. He graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a BS degree in economics.[1]

Entrepreneur and investor

In 1994, Fox joined venture capital firm Safeguard Scientifics Inc. and in 1995 established the company's San Francisco office.[1] In 1996, Fox, along with fellow Safeguard executive Walter Buckley, founded Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ : ICGE) with strategic investors including IBM and General Electric.[3] While at ICG he led several investments including Matchlogic, SMART Technologies and TRADEX.[2] Fox also was Chairman of ICG Asia, a Hong Kong listed company that was sold to Hutchinson-Whampoa.[4] ICG’s market capitalization peaked in March 2000 at over $50 billion after going public in August 1999.[5][6][7] Fox's experience as an investor and operator with ICG during 2000 and 2001, a period in which the company paired its portfolio and operations, impacted his view on risk management and determined his current approach to private equity investing.[1]

In 2003, Fox founded Stripes Group, a Manhattan-based private equity firm that makes growth-stage minority and majority investments in profitable internet, software-as-a-service, technology-enabled services and branded consumer products companies.[2] Stripes Group portfolio companies include Perimeter eSecurity, Epic Advertising, NetQuote and SmartWool.[8] In 2009, Stripes Group invested $13 million into MyWebGrocer, a company that manages websites for grocery chains while selling advertising to consumer packaged goods companies that is based in Winooski, VT.[9]

Fox also is chairman and co-founder of Syndero, a marketer of beauty products on the Internet.[10] Its products include the Ookisa hair care line, TriClear acne treatment, OnLingo language learning CDs, and the Internet CareerKit.[10][11][12]

Fox is also a co-Founder of A10 Capital, a Boise, Idaho-based distressed commercial real estate lender. A10 Capital maintains a $100 million fund to provide loans to buyers of troubled office, industrial, retail and multi-family real estate assets.[13][14]

Fox is also a co-Founder of Sentinel Fund, a Long/Short Fund of hedge funds.[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Source:RESUME: Kenneth A. Fox. BusinessWeek Online, November 1, 1999
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Source:Where are they now? Ken Fox. Fortune, 2006
  3. ↑ Source:A One-Stock Way to Play The Net Here's an exclusive first look at the company analysts think is best poised to capitalize on the Net's next big wave:business-to-business e-commerce. Internet Capital has stakes in 36 hot B2B startups. Fortune September 27, 1999
  4. ↑ Source:Internet Capital's Young Turks. BusinessWeek Online, November 1, 1999
  5. ↑ Source:Fox slyly cashes in on 'Net technology. The Daily Pennsylvanian, October 24, 2000
  6. ↑ Source:Internet Capital Group Making E-Business Noise. CRN, December 09, 1999
  7. ↑ Source:Following The Money: Some 680 men, women, techies, and, yes, schools got pre-IPO shares of Internet high flier ICG. Here's how they became insiders and what they did as the stock crashed.. FORTUNE Magazine, September 17, 2001
  8. ↑ Source:Stripes Group Profile. CrunchBase, 2009
  9. ↑ Source:VC Series A Web Tech Deals in August. Zimbio, September 16, 2009
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Source:Syndero sells beauty to capture clicks. San Francisco Business Times, Friday, October 24, 2008
  11. ↑ Source:Inc 5000 Profile. Inc. Magazine, 2009
  12. ↑ Source:Business Week Personal Products: Syndero, Inc. Business Week, February 12, 2010
  13. ↑ Source:WithPool of Distressed Assets on the Rise, A10 Kicks Off $100M Lending Program. Commercial Property Executive, May 11, 2009
  14. ↑ Source:Goldman Tennessee Mall Loan Shows CMBS Stirring: Credit Markets. Bloomberg, February 17, 2010
  15. ↑ Source:CrunchBaseProfile: Ken Fox. CrunchBase, 2009

External links

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