Merged into American Express Global Business Travel, ticker now GBTG
APSG

Completed

American Express Global Business Travel

GBTG
First $7.31
Merger +6mo $7.34
0%
Merger +1yr $6.43
12%
Recent $6.00
18%

Apollo Strategic Growth Capital

Sponsors: APSG Sponsor
Raised
$750M
CIK
1820872
SPAC Ticker
APSG.U
Merger
American Express Global Business Travel
Merged Ticker
GBTG
Focus
Unicorns
External link: SEC Filings

SPAC Team

Leadership

Sanjay Patel  — Mr. Patel serves as our Chief Executive Officer and Director. Mr. Patel is Chairman International and Senior Partner of Private Equity of Apollo, with responsibility for helping to build and develop Apollo’s international businesses. He is currently a member of Apollo’s Management Committee and Private Equity Investment Committees and was formerly Head of Europe and managing partner of Apollo European Principal Finance. He currently serves on the board of directors of Tegra Apparel; he previously also served on the boards of directors of Amissima Holdings, Brit Insurance, Countrywide PLC and Watches of Switzerland. Mr. Patel joined Apollo in 2010 as Head of International Private Equity. Prior to Apollo, Mr. Patel was a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was co-head of European and Indian Private Equity for the Principal Investment Area (PIA), a member of the Goldman Sachs Partnership Committee and a member of the Investment Committee of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Prior thereto, he was President of Greenwich Street Capital. Mr. Patel is a member of the Harvard Graduate School of Design Dean’s Leadership Council and the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. He also serves on the Investment Committee of the Eton College Foundation and is a member of the Eton Development Advisory Council. He received his AB and SM engineering degrees, magna cum laude, from Harvard College and received his MBA degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He was educated at Eton College in the UK, where he was a King’s Scholar. We believe Mr. Patel’s extensive financial background and expertise in investing in public and private companies makes him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

James Crossen — Mr. Crossen serves as our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer. Mr. Crossen is Chief Financial Officer for Private Equity and Real Assets at Apollo, having joined Apollo in 2010. Prior to that time, Mr. Crossen was a Controller at Roundtable Investment Partners LLC. Prior thereto, Mr. Crossen was a Controller at Fortress Investment Group. Prior to that time, Mr. Crossen was a member of the Funds Management and Tax Group at JP Morgan Partners LLC. Mr. Crossen is a Certified Public Accountant in New York. Mr. Crossen served in the United States Marine Corps and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut.

Scott Kleinman — Mr. Kleinman serves as the Executive Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Kleinman is Co-President of Apollo Global Management, Inc., sharing responsibility for all of Apollo’s revenue-generating and investing businesses across its integrated alternative investment platform. Mr. Kleinman, who focuses on Apollo’s equity and opportunistic businesses as well as its financial institutions and insurance activities, joined Apollo in 1996, and in 2009 he was named Lead Partner for Private Equity. Mr. Kleinman currently serves on the board of directors of Athene Holding Ltd. and previously served on the boards of directors of Vectra, Momentive Performance Materials, Hexion, Constellis Group and CH2M Hill Companies. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Kleinman was a member of the Investment Banking division at Smith Barney Inc. In 2014, Mr. Kleinman founded the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Board of Overseers at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. Mr. Kleinman received a BA and BS from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business, respectively, graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. We believe Mr. Kleinman’s extensive background in finance and business makes him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Jennifer Fleiss  —  Ms. Fleiss serves as a director. Ms. Fleiss most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of Jetblack, a subdivision of Walmart, and prior as Co-Founder, President and Director of Rent the Runway. During her nine years at Rent the Runway, Ms. Fleiss served in a variety of leadership roles in operations, strategy and business development. Ms. Fleiss currently serves on the Board of Directors of Rent the Runway, Shutterfly and Party City. Previously, Ms. Fleiss worked at Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Ms. Fleiss received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 2009 and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Yale University in 2005. We believe Ms. Fleiss’ extensive background in operations, strategy and business makes her well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Mitch Garber  — Mr. Garber serves as a director. Mr. Garber is the former CEO of Optimal Payments/​Paysafe, PartyGaming Plc / PartyBwin and Caesars Acquisition Company. Mr. Garber is the Chairman of Invest in Canada, the Canadian agency responsible for foreign investment in Canada. Mr. Garber also currently sits on the board of directors of Rackspace Technology, Shutterfly and Fosun Fashion Group. From 2015 to 2020, Mr. Garber was the non-executive Chairman of Cirque du Soleil. Mr. Garber is a minority owner and executive committee member of the NHL Seattle Kraken. He holds a BA from McGill University, a JD and an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa and was awarded the Order of Canada in 2019. We believe that Mr. Garber’s extensive background in finance and business makes him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

James H. Simmons III  —  Mr. Simmons serves as a director. Mr. Simmons is CEO and Founding Partner of Asland Capital Partners, serving as head of its investment committee with oversight over the day-to-day operations of the firm. Mr. Simmons has over two decades of real estate investment experience across the public and private sectors. Prior to founding Asland Capital Partners, Mr. Simmons was a Partner at Ares Management, where he led the Ares Domestic Emerging Markets Fund, and was previously a Partner at Apollo Real Estate Advisors. Mr. Simmons was also previously president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation and held prior roles at Bankers Trust and Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Simmons currently serves on the Board of Directors of LifePoint Health. Mr. Simmons received a BS degree from Princeton University, an MS from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Master of Management degree from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. We believe Mr. Simmons’ extensive background in business and investing in public and private companies makes him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.