Speaker

Walter F. Loeb

President, Loeb Associates Inc.

Walter F. Loeb is president of Loeb Associates Inc. He has advised domestic and international companies since 1991. From 1984 to 1990, he served as Principal of Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. Earlier in his career, he was a senior retail analyst. His previous retail experience was with Johnson Redbook Service from 1972 to 1974, P.K.Halstead & Associates an international consulting firm, Macy’s Department Stores, May Department Stores and Allied Stores. He now publishes The Loeb Retail Letter as a blog on Forbes.com. He has served as a director of the National Retail Federation, Gymboree Corp, Federal Realty Investment Trust, Wet Seal, ProfitLogic, Hudson’s Bay Co. and other companies.

Speaker

Myron E. ( Mike ) Ullman

Chairman, Starbucks

Over the last 30 years, Myron E. ( Mike ) Ullman has successfully led five major global enterprises. Based in Hong Kong, the United States and France, he has transformed and managed businesses engaged in retailing, luxury goods manufacturing, property management and development, hotel management, computer services and public transport.

In August 2016, Mr. Ullman retired as Chairman of JCPenney Company after leading a comprehensive turnaround of the Company. Mr. Ullman was first elected Chairman and CEO in late 2004 and subsequently led the Company to the highest sales and profit in its 110 year history.

Mr. Ullman is currently Chairman of the Board of Starbucks Corporation. He also serves as lead director of Taubman Centers, is a director of Safe Harbor Marinas and is vice chairman of Gordon College. He recently completed a six- year term as director and chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Board of Dallas.

Mr. Ullman has served as Global Chairman of Mercy Ships International for 16 years having previously served as vice chairman since 1994.

From June 1999 to January 2002, he served as Directeur General of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest and leading luxury- goods manufacturer and retailer based in Paris. From February 1995 until June 1999 Mr. Ullman served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DFS Group Limited, the travel retailer, which is majority owned by LVMH. Mr. Ullman served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of R.H. Macy & Co.,Inc. from April 1992 to January 1995. Mr. Ullman was Group Managing Director of Wharf Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong from 1986 to 1989.

In 1981, Mr. Ullman was appointed a White House Fellow by President Ronald Reagan. He has been awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship and in 2010 was recognized by Yale School of Management with its

Speaker

Richard Kestenbaum '80

Co-founder and Partner of Triangle Capital

Mr. Richard Kestenbaum is a co-founder and Partner of Triangle Capital, and has been an investment banker for over 35 years. He has extensive experience advising clients in merchandising businesses, particularly in the Retail & Consumer sector. Mr. Kestenbaum is an often-quoted expert on the retail and merchandising industries. He is a Contributor to Forbes.com where he writes a regular blog about trends in retail and consumer product businesses. He also appears regularly in print and other media as well as industry panels and speaking programs. Before co-founding Triangle, Mr. Kestenbaum was a Managing Director at a boutique investment banking firm called Financo, Inc. where he was responsible for a majority of the firm’s apparel industry transactions. Prior to joining Financo, he was a Partner and First Vice President at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. Mr. Kestenbaum is the co-author of three books on finance and computer programming. He is formerly an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Business at the graduate program of the Stern School of Business at New York University. Mr. Kestenbaum received a BS in Accounting from New York University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Harvard Business School.

Chitra Nawbatt is a highly accomplished executive with a track record of leading, innovating and transforming organizations to achieve growth. Ms. Nawbatt has spent most of her career as a strategic multidisciplinary change agent with the mandate to build teams, processes and systems to reinvent culture, market strategy to execution, growth and risk management.

Currently, Chitra is the Global Head of Market Solutions at Genpact, a leading lean digital, artificial intelligence, analytics and design thinking consulting firm. She delivers strategic solutions to clients focused on revenue discovery and business performance transformation using digital, artificial intelligence and data analytics.

Previously, Chitra was the New York based Anchor for Reuters International TV where her broadcasts were seen by millions of households across the world including Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. C-level executives, politicians and world leaders had differentiated interviews with her because of her prior track record from Wall Street.

You can reach her on twitter @chitranawbatt.