Cowen Partners on Ally Bank’s CEO Search
Capital One’s acquisition of Discover was likely high among Rhodes’ reasons for the move, said Shawn Cole, president and founding partner of executive search firm Cowen Partners.
“It may not have been disclosed to him during the interview process,” leaving him blindsided, Cole said in a Thursday email. “It’s likely, given the timing, that he was speaking with Ally along with Discover anyway. [Then] took the job at Discover, and Ally reached back out once the merger was announced.”
Such quick executive moves can occur due to “significant” personality clashes with the board or chairperson, or the discovery of nonpublic information after accepting the job, Cole noted. For Rhodes, it could also mean Ally was always his top choice but acted too slowly and wooed him over later, Cole said.
Rhodes’ exit leaves Discover without a leader, again, even as it faces regulatory scrutiny over past business practices. Also, the proposed acquisition by Capital One has drawn fire from lawmakers concerned about concentration in the banking industry.
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About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Cowen Partners is the nation’s executive search firm, enabling companies to harness the power of human capital to fuel their success. Specializing in interim CFO recruitment and other executive search engagements, Cowen Partners gives our clients access to the top 1% of human capital to create opportunities that accelerate their growth and market share.
With Cowen Partners, clients can grow at scale, create value, and drive results with world class talent. Our clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations.
Clients are typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $500 million to $15 billion. Successful placements span the entire C-Suite and include VP and director level leadership roles.
With our proven processes and guaranteed results, we have successfully placed hundreds of candidates in industries including technology, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, financial services, and private equity.
About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn Cole is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners, a national CFO executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, such as a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer.
Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations, typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $1 billion and $15 billion.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund which provides seed funding and early stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international non-profit organization working with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical knowledge to become socially responsible business leaders.
At the age of 16 Shawn became a volunteer firefighter and EMT, eventually founding and managing a half marathon to raise funds for the community. To date, the marathon is still a success and has raised over one million dollars benefiting the community.
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