Dean Woodman

Dean Woodman
Born 1929 (age 85–86)
Nationality United States
Education Amherst College
Occupation Businessman
Known for founding partner of Robertson Stephens
Religion Quaker
Spouse(s) Concepcion Socarras (divorced)
Jane Woodman
Children three

Dean Woodman (born 1929) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and co-founder of the investment bank Robertson Stephens.

Biography

Woodman was born in 1929[1] to a Quaker family.[2] In 1946, he graduated from the Moses Brown School[2] and then Amherst College where he studied economics.[3] After college, he served in the United States Naval Air Corps.[3] In 1955, he worked in the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch including 16 years as director of West Coast corporate financing.[1] In 1978, he co-founded investment bank Robertson Colman Stephens & Woodman and in 1982, he co-founded the investment bank Woodman, Kirkpatrick & Gilbreath[1] where he brokered Pepsi's purchase of Taco Bell.[4] In 1984, he served as managing director in the investment banking group of Hambrecht & Quist and in 1988, he served as Managing Director of the international investment bank ING Barings LLC (and its predecessor Furman Selz).[1] In 1999, he left ING to work as a consultant specializing in financial assignments, private equity and debt placements, and mergers and acquisitions.[1] He is also a director of Medallion Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medallion Financial Corp.[1] In 2002, he provided a $200,000 loan to his son, Nick Woodman, as seed money to found the sports camera company, GoPro.[5][6] As of May 2014, he owned 6.4% of GoPro stock.[7]

Philanthropy

In 2013, he donated $5 million to his alma mater, Moses Brown School to build a community and performing arts center at the school.[2] He made the gift in honor of his Quaker family’s five-generation commitment to the school where his great-grandfather Augustine Jones served as a headmaster.[2]

Personal life

Woodman was married to Concepcion Socarras with whom he had three children including Nick Woodman, the founder of GoPro. In 1992, Concepcion remarried Irwin Federman, General Partner of U.S. Venture Partners.[8][9][10][11] He is remarried to Jane Woodman.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 BusinessWeek: "Profile - Dean Woodman" retrieved May 26, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Providence Journal: "Alum gives Moses Brown $5 million for performing-arts, community center" By Tatiana Pina October 18, 2013
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Moses Brown School: "More than two thousand members of the MB community were on campus Oct. 17-19 for MB Expo, a celebration of play, passion and purpose" retrieved May 26, 2014
  4. ↑ Upstart Business Journal: "GoPro to go public: 7 things to know about founder Nick Woodman's wild entrepreneurial journey" by Alex Dalenberg February 7, 2014
  5. ↑ Wall Street Journal: "How Family Ties Helped Nick Woodman Make GoPro Click" By Lizette Chapman June 20, 2013
  6. ↑ Forbes: "The Early Years of GoPro and Founder Nicholas Woodman" retrieved May 26, 2014
  7. ↑ Forbes: "Action Camera Maker GoPro Files For $100 Million IPO" May 19, 2014
  8. ↑ ACG Silicon Valley: "Irwin Federman, U.S. Venture Partners" retrieved May 26, 2014 | "He [Federman] has been married to the former Concepcion Socarras since 1992"
  9. ↑ Wall Street Journal: "How Family Ties Helped Nick Woodman Make GoPro Click" By Lizette Chapman June 20, 2013 | "The two-time entrepreneur had already raised money for one of his startups and...was well-connected to Silicon Valley players. With dad Dean Woodman, who was a founding partner at what became investment bank Robertson Stephens, and stepdad U.S. Venture Partners General Partner Irwin Federman"
  10. ↑ New York Social Diary retrieved May 26, 2014
  11. ↑ Explore San Francisco: "Bay Area Billionaires 2014" retrieved May 26, 2014

External links