Watch Video of the Panel Below, or Click HERE:
CorpGov hosted the second Princeton CorpGov Forum on May 21, 2026, at The Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey. Speakers featured industry leaders and alumni spanning five decades at Princeton, and topics comprised university endowments, shareholder activism, private equity, venture capital, private and public capital markets, entertainment and the finance of college sports.
Panel: Public and Private Capital Markets Assessment
- Thomas Courtney, Jr. ’86, President and CEO, The Courtney Group
- Ryan Keating, Industry Leader, Venture Services, Eisner Advisory Group
- Karen Snow, CEO, Rose & Co. Capital Advisors; Former Global Head of Listings, Nasdaq
- Zach Swartz, Partner, Real Estate Capital Markets and Mergers & Acquisitions, Vinson & Elkins LLP
Main Topics of Discussion:
- The panel highlighted how massive value is being created by private companies in a very short amount of time, accelerating the pace of growth across industries.
- Speakers said fast-growing companies can no longer stay private for extended periods because they require significant amounts of capital to sustain expansion.
- Public markets were described as the only realistic exit path for many large-scale companies, given their size and capital needs, such as SpaceX.
- The discussion emphasized how critical access to funding has become in the current market cycle, with some companies surviving only because they secured major capital raises a year earlier.
- The panel closed with mention of sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s as a notable upcoming IPO candidate after being taken private by Blackstone a few years ago.
Speakers and Notable Attendees
- Paul Haaga ’70, Former Chairman, Capital Research and Management Company; Chair of the Board, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation; Board Director, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
- Ned Nalle ’76, President, Copper Beeches, Inc.; Previously, ION Media Networks, ABC Studios, President, Universal Worldwide Television, Universal Studios
- Thomas Courtney, Jr. ’86, President and CEO, The Courtney Group
- Curtis Glovier ’86, S’87, P’19, P’25, Chief Investment Officer, Star Mountain Capital
- Robert Maciejko ’88, Founder, Board AI Institute; Managing Partner, Oaks Prime Family Office
- John Evans ’91, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Tractus Asia
- Phillip Escaravage ’97, CEO, Gift Games
- Kevin McLaughlin ’97, Vice President, Brand and Corporate Marketing, Dataiku
- Doyl Burkett ’98, Managing Partner and Founder, Integrity Growth Partners
- Brian O’Kelley ’99, Co-Founder and CEO, Scope3
- Ari I. Weinberg ’99, Contributor, Pensions & Investments; Board member, HBS Club of Connecticut; Class agent, Princeton University Annual Giving
- Brian Kirschbaum ’02, Partner, Astra Capital Management
- James Shin ’05, President, Film & TV, HYBE America
- Judson Wallace ’05, Managing Director, White Rabbit Capital; Former Captain, Princeton Men’s Basketball
- Whit Clay, Partner, Head of New York, Longacre Square Partners
- Lawrence S. Elbaum, Co-Head of Shareholder Activism Practice and Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
- Jon Feldman, Partner, Head of Business Law Group, Goodmans LLP
- John Grau, President, InvestorCom
- Rafique Jiwani, Vice President, Goldman Sachs Private Equity
- Lisa Kaplan, Founder and CEO, Alethea
- Andy Katz, General Partner, BrknPar Ventures (Sport Tech Growth Equity Fund)
- Ryan Keating, Industry Leader, Venture Services, Eisner Advisory Group
- John Price, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, HighGround Market
- Michael W. Robinson, Chairman and CEO, The Montgomery Strategies Group
- David Schulhof, Founder and CEO, MUSQ Global Music Industry ETF (NYSE: MUSQ)
- Karen Snow, CEO, Rose & Co. Capital Advisors; Former Global Head of Listings, Nasdaq
- Zach Swartz, Partner, Real Estate Capital Markets and Mergers & Acquisitions, Vinson & Elkins LLP
- Ken Traub, Chairman, President and CEO, Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (Nasdaq: CMTL)
- Patrick A. Westerhaus, Partner, Cyber Risk Services, EisnerAmper
- Christopher Young, Investment Banker, Formerly Director of M&A and Proxy Fight Research, ISS
- John Jannarone ’03, CEO, CorpGov (Moderator)
- Jarrett Banks, COO, CorpGov (Moderator)
- John G. Quigley, Co-Founder and former Managing Partner, Nassau Capital (Moderator)
More Upcoming Events:
Save the Date: 2nd LA CorpGov Forum on Sep 18 Featuring Sports, Entertainment & M&A
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