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Operating Committee
Robert V. Brazell
Senator Robert W. Kasten
Von Whitby
Bill Rapavy
Mark Oleksik
Robert V. Brazell is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Talos Partners. He was the founder and founding board member of Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) and also served as the company's president and chief executive officer.
Brazell has been the owner of several Internet properties including eHow.com (www.ehow.com), a content and search site; Delphi.com (www.delphiforums.com), the Internet's first discussion group community; and Sandbox.com (www.sandbox.com), the Internet's largest fantasy sports site. He is also the controlling owner and chairman of the board of data tracking companies Live Global Bid (www.liveglobalbid.com) and VinIQ (www.viniq.com). Brazell currently serves as Chairman of In-store Broadcasting Network (IBN), www.ibnads.com, the world's largest retail media company.
Brazell has raised and invested more than $200 million in the past ten years. He is the co-author of "The Idea Economy"TM and has authored a second book due for release in the fall of 2009. He also served on the board of the Deseret Foundation, an organization that provides predictable surgical care to children in 12 countries and establishes self-sufficient infrastructure in the countries.
Sen. Robert W. Kasten is Managing Partner, a member of the board of directors and the corporate secretary of Talos Partners. He is also a member of the Audit Committee. He is the president of Kasten & Company, an international banking and business consulting group.
Kasten is a former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, having served from 1981 to 1993. He also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1974 to 1978 and as a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from 1972 to 1974. During his tenure in the Senate, he was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee and chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, which has funding and oversight responsibility for all U.S. assistance programs, the Export-Import Bank, the World Bank, the multilateral development banks, and the Eastern European Development Bank. He also served on the Senate Budget Committee and was the ranking member on the Surface Transportation Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Kasten served on the board of directors of the Center for International Private Enterprise, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce established to promote private enterprise and market-oriented reform worldwide. He also served as chairman and director of the Emerging Markets Group which managed the Democratic Century Fund, LLP, a hedge fund investing in emerging markets securities. He is a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He is currently a director of EarthWalk Communications, a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and a trustee of the American University in Cairo. Kasten earned his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Arizona and holds a master’s degree in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Von H. Whitby is President of Talos Structured Lending, a member of the board of directors of Talos Partners and serves as a member of the Audit Committee. He has been active in the business community for over 35 years with a broad background in investment banking, corporate management and tax-advantaged merger and acquisition strategies.
Whitby is the co-founder of Investestate, a Nasdaq-traded real estate development and management company, and served as the chairman and CEO of Hydro Flame Corporation (NASDAQ: HFC). Whitby joined First National Bank of Chicago in 1973 with the responsibility of providing financial advisory services for private placements, project financing and mergers and acquisitions. Moving to Crocker National Bank in 1976, he served as manager of the corporate finance department with similar responsibilities.
Since 1981, Whitby has been the managing partner of Whitby, Santarlasci & Company, a privately-held investment banking firm that specializes in providing financial advisory services for leveraged buyouts, financial restructurings and workouts. The firm has made and developed investment opportunities in several business sectors including laser optics system for the military, appliances, fuel tanks, waste containers, modular buildings, electrical components, the apparel industry, as well as commercial real estate projects.
He is currently involved with, or has served as director of, several private and public corporations. Active with volunteer and community service organizations, Whitby has also served as a trustee for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., The Children’s Center and The Economic Development Corporation of Utah. He was selected by the governor of Utah to serve as a member of the Governor’s Task Force for Cost Effective Government and as a member of Utah’s Bicentennial Committee. He has also served as a trustee of Ballet West.
Whitby earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and business management from the University of Utah. In 1973, he received his masters of business administration degree from Harvard University. He earned his master’s degree in accounting at the University of Illinois and was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in 1974.
Bill Rapavy is the chief operating officer of Talos Partners. He was the managing partner of HedgEdge LLC, which offers consulting services to hedge funds, family offices and other wealth advisors and service providers.
From 2002 to 2007, he was the chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief compliance officer with the ElitePerformance family of hedge funds, a managed account platform of alternative asset strategies. Those included long/short equity, convertible arbitrage, statistical arbitrage, distressed opportunities, fixed income arbitrage, and PIPEs.
Prior to ElitePerformance, he was the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of CJS Capital Management, a long/short equity fund from 2001 to 2002. He served in the same capacities at Dreman Value Management in 2000, a value-oriented mutual fund and hedge fund manager.
Rapavy also served in several sales, trading and portfolio management positions. He was director of sales and trading at Twenty-First Securities from 1997 to 2000, director of hedge fund services at Nomura Securities, treasurer of the New York City Housing Authority, senior consultant at Morningside Advisors, cash manager at Merrill Lynch, and involved in municipal bond sales and trading operations at Salomon Brothers.
Rapavy is a certified public accountant and was a senior accountant with Ernst & Whinney. He has been a certified cash manager and held FINRA Series 7, 24, 55, and 63 licenses.
He received his master of business administration degree from Columbia Business School in 1990. He earned his bachelor of business degree from Siena College in 1984.
Mark E. Oleksik is the Chief Financial Officer of Talos Partners. Oleksik brings over 20 years of senior-level financial experience in insurance and financial services.
Prior to his appointment at Talos, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Flatiron Financial Services Inc. (also known as Peak5). He was a member of the executive committee and head of finance and administration in charge of the accounting, payroll, purchasing, treasury, insurance / claims, and internal audit departments.
Oleksik was with Centrix Financial LLC as its chief accounting officer, and was also part of the management team that structured the sale of Centrix’s assets to Peak5.
Before joining Centrix, he served as a controller and senior vice president of finance for Alexander & Alexander Services Inc. He also was a senior vice president and regional director for Alexsis Inc, a subsidiary of CNA Financial Corporation.
Throughout his career, Oleksik has served as vice president, controller, and senior financial officer for ESG Re Limited; director of program business for Everest National Insurance Company; and various management positions for Uniprise, a subsidiary of United Health Group.
Oleksik is a Certified Public Accountant. He is also a partner of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park and a master of business degree from Loyola College.