About me

I am a 34 year old French & German dual national. Early on I had the chance of travelling extensively as I was born in Costa Rica and lived in Central America for 4 years before moving to Sierra Leone (Africa - remember the "Blood Diamond" movie?) and spending nearly 7 years there. Thereafter my father moved us to Europe in order for me to get a proper education (first Switzerland then France). From my travels I got the taste for languages and cultures and am lucky to speak several languages now.

After graduating High School in France (and catching up on the lack of schooling I had in Africa) I went down the standard elitist French "Grandes Ecoles" track where I eventually, in Paris, got a post-graduate Masters degree in Business Administration. After graduation (and some serious considerations about becoming a Jesuit) I decided to move to London to join the ranks of the M&A bankers of Goldman Sachs & Co. After a 6 months stint as a analyst in M&A I was moved to their Private Equity group (PIA) where I quickly discovered the joys of investing and buying companies. After 2 years at GS I was hired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a smaller purely Private Equity-oriented firm (which at that time was still pretty small in terms of total employees). After some time at KKR I joined a distressed debt-focused Hedge Fund, where I have been until the beginning of my travels around the world, and where I came back to eventually at the end of 2010.

In terms of hobbies, I like travelling both in remote locations where there is not a single soul as well as more populated areas where I can meet locals and learn from their traditions and customs. I also enjoy everything which is survival related, motorbike racing, flying (I have a license), sailing, cooking and going out to the theatre and opera. Most importantly, I enjoy meeting people who inspire me, and I am sure I will find plenty of those on my journeys...