Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Angel

Investor Stage

Seed

John W. “Jay” Jordan, II, was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended the University of Notre Dame graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in 1969. He then attended Columbia’s MBA program and went to Wall Street to work at Carl Marks & Co., Inc. (“CM”) in 1972.

In the early 1970's while at Carl Marks, Jordan became a pioneer in the merchant banking business. The CM acquisition activities encompassed purchasing companies for the CM partnership account. Over the course of nine years at Carl Marks, the partnership amassed a portfolio of approximately twenty-five companies doing in excess of $2.5 billion in sales volume.

In 1982, Mr. Jordan left Carl Marks to form The Jordan Company (“TJC”), a private investment firm whose principal activity is acquiring companies for the partnership account. Since its formation, TJC has acquired over 75 companies with aggregate sales volume in excess of $10 billion. Today, the TJC portfolio numbers over twenty companies with approximately $4.5 billion in aggregate sales. Mr. Jordan currently serves as Managing Partner of The Jordan Company.

In 1986, TJC expanded its activities to include money management through its affiliate, the Mountbatten Management Corporation (“MMC”). MMC owned and managed the William Penn family of mutual funds until sold to Federated Insurance in 1995. Additionally, in 1986, in partnership with Mr. Zalaznick, Mr. Jordan formed JZ Capital Partners, Ltd., a Guernsey-based closed-end institutional investment trust with current assets of approximately $600 million. JZCP is managed through its affiliate JZ Advisers Inc.

In 1988, Mr. Jordan formed a Chicago based holding company, Jordan Industries, Inc. (“JII”) conglomerating certain companies owned and/or controlled by TJC. JII at its peak operated 8 subsidiaries with sales in excess of $1 billion. In 2006, JII sold substantially all of its operations, but has retained a small operating base of approximately $150 million in revenue.

Mr. Jordan currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jordan Industries. In 1994, the Jordan Group of Companies established operations in the Republic of China. Currently TJC owns and manages 20 different operations in China. In 1997, JII formed a wholly owned subsidiary, JIR, Inc. ("JIR") to conduct business in the Russian Federation. JIR through its subsidiary United Cable Network (“UCN”) founded and built the largest cable television operation in the Russian Federation with over 1 million subscribers. UCN was sold in 2006. In 2002, TJC initiated its first U.S. based private equity fund by founding The Resolute Fund, a $1.5 billion private equity fund, focused on acquiring U.S. domestic companies in the middle market. In December 2007, TJC closed Resolute II, a $3.6 billion private equity fund.

Mr. Jordan is active in a number of community/philanthropic activities. He has been a Trustee of the University of Notre Dame since February 1993, and currently serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Board. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors of Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Investment Committee of the Art Institute of Chicago, and on the Board of Trustees of The Art Institute of Chicago among other civic activities. In addition, Mr. Jordan sits on approximately 20 corporate Boards.