Nader Tavakoli ’80

Nader Tavakoli is president and chief executive officer of Ambac Financial Group and Ambac Assurance Corporation, one of the country’s largest guarantors of state and municipal debt. Prior to his appointment as CEO of the company, Tavakoli was chairman of Ambac’s Board of Directors. Among his professional activities, Tavakoli is a director and litigation trustee of MF Global Holdings, where he is pursuing claims against former management and others in connection with recovery of losses incurred at that company.

Tavakoli founded EagleRock Capital Management, LLC, a private investment partnership, in 2002. Prior to that he managed substantial investment portfolios with Odyssey Partners and Highbridge Capital Management, also private investment partnerships. During his 25-year investment career, Tavakoli has made investments across numerous industries, including significant investments in financial services companies. Tavakoli began his professional career as an attorney with the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy, where he primarily represented institutional clients in banking, litigation and corporate restructuring matters.

Tavakoli is a director of Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation, a Korea-based manufacturer of analogue and mixed-signal semiconductors. Until 2014, he served as chairman of the board of Peak Hotels & Resorts Group, a privately held company that owns and manages the Aman Group of Resorts. Until its sale to AT&T in 2013, Tavakoli was a director of Nextwave Wireless Inc., a wireless technology company.

Tavakoli is a Governance Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is involved with a number of not-for-profit organizations, including Little Kids Rock, Stand and Deliver, the Princess Grace Foundation and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. He has previously served as a member on the board of the Montclair Art Museum and the Montclair Film Festival, which he co-founded.

Tavakoli graduated from Montclair State College in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He continued his education at Rutgers University School of Law where he earned a Juris Doctor in 1983. He has remained an active alumnus and is a former chair and current member of the Montclair State University Foundation Board of Trustees.

Bio as of May 2016