Mark Schwartz, W’79 Chief Executive Officer Palladin Capital Group, INC Boston

Wharton Speaker >> Biography

Mark J. Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer, Palladin Capital Group and Executive Chairman, Arnotts, Ltd.:  Mark founded Palladin Capital Group in 1998 to acquire, originate loans and provide advisory services to consumer products and retail companies.  He has taken on a number of roles in the companies in which he has invested, including those of CEO, Chairman, and active board member.  Mark also is currently Executive Chairman of Arnotts Limited, the largest department store in Ireland.  He was retained to restructure the company after overexpansion during the Celtic Tiger years, and is focused on making Arnotts the leading Irish shopping destination in-store and online.

Mark merged the Palladin organization into Gordon Brothers Group in 2002, becoming President and then CEO of that organization.  After achieving record results, he sold his ownership position in 2009 to refocus on Palladin.  Mark also served as Chairman and Chief Executive of Nine West Group; was President of Rosecliff, a New York-based buyout firm; and, before focusing on running and buying retail companies, spent 12 years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and Manufacturers Hanover Limited.  He has been the Chairman or a Director of many public and private companies and currently is a Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Big Apple Circus and is an Advisory Board Member of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School. 

Mark earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.