MIAMI, Jan. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Guess & Co. Corporation is pleased to announce its current Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is responsible for overall governance of Guess & Co. Corporation. These directors are serving until the company’s next Annual Meeting of Shareholders in 2020 at which time they may be re-elected to the Board of Directors by a majority vote of shareholders:
Jerry D. Guess, Director & Chairman
Jerry D. Guess is director and chairman of the Board of Directors of Guess & Co. Corporation. Mr. Guess has over 15 years of business and professional experience. A serial entrepreneur, he started his first business when he was 13 years old. He launched a public relations and marketing firm at the age of 15 years old. When he was 16 years old, he started a holding company that grew rapidly within a few months. Mr. Guess began acquiring companies when he was 17 years of age. Despite personal setbacks, Mr. Guess decided to launch a mission-driven company when he founded Guess & Co. Corporation in 2017. Determined to positively impact society, Mr. Guess assembled a Board of Directors and management team while initially serving in a non-executive capacity as a principal. Mr. Guess completed business coursework at Adams State University. He was appointed chairman of Guess & Co. Corporation in January of 2019. As chairman, Mr. Guess oversees the Board of Directors of Guess & Co. Corporation. He is a member of the Executive Committee.
Michelle Stewart, Director & Deputy Chairman
Michelle Stewart is principal shareholder, director and deputy chairman of the Board of Directors of Guess & Co. Corporation. As a seasoned business professional, Ms. Stewart has over 20 years of business and transaction experience. She began her career as a real estate investor in residential properties throughout the U.S. Ms. Stewart joined Guess & Co. Corporation as executive vice-president and managing director. In that position she was responsible for corporate planning and development. She was promoted to senior executive vice-president and chief corporate officer and had responsibility for revenue and acquisition planning. She was appointed vice-chairman in February of 2018. She retired from Guess & Co. Corporation in November of 2018. During her retirement she served as chief executive officer of a for-profit social enterprise company. She returned to Guess & Co. Corporation in February of 2019 and was appointed deputy chairman. Prior to joining Guess & Co. Corporation, Ms. Stewart was partner and manager in a business financing company. Ms. Stewart has closed over $500 million in transactions during her career. As deputy chairman, Ms. Stewart works with the chairman to oversee the Board of Directors of Guess & Co. Corporation.
Mitchell M. Cohen, Director & Lead Director
Mitchell M. Cohen is shareholder and lead director of Guess & Co. Corporation. Mr. Cohen is chief executive officer of Pursuit Management LLC, a New York based investment firm that operates a private asset purchasing platform. He has more than 30 years of financial, operations and general business experience as a senior executive at several public and private companies. He is the former interim chief financial officer of a publicly traded investment management company and the Special Trustee of Consumer Debt Trust, a trust established to acquire distressed debt. Mr. Cohen spent five years as the chief financial officer and secretary of Asta Funding, Inc., a publicly traded company that acquires and liquidates distressed consumer receivables. During his tenure, Mr. Cohen assisted in acquiring approximately $15 billion of consumer receivables for liquidation, completed several mergers, and managed a portfolio of over 300 pools of distressed assets. In recent years, he has underwritten, and sourced for investors, pools totaling over $300 million. As lead director, Mr. Cohen oversees governance of the board of directors. He is also chairman of the Audit Committee.
James R. Jackson, Director
James Jackson is shareholder and director of Guess & Co. Corporation. Mr. Jackson is a seasoned business professional with over 35 years of experience. He earned a Business degree from Winston-Salem Business College. Mr. Jackson joined Wachovia Bank and was appointed charitable trust officer in their Wealth Management Group. In that position, he was responsible for managing trust accounts including routine administration and tax reporting. Mr. Jackson retired from Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) after over 37 years of service. Mr. Jackson joined Guess & Co. Corporation as special adviser. As director, Mr. Jackson is chairman of the nominating and governance committee, a member of the executive committee and a member of the audit committee of the Board of Directors.
Paris N. Smith, Director
Paris N. Smith is shareholder and director of Guess & Co. Corporation. Ms. Smith served as initial and interim lead director of Guess & Co. Corporation at the company's launch in 2017. Prior to Guess & Co. Corporation, Ms. Smith was Lead Director for a multi-million dollar diversified private holding company following her tenure as vice-chairman and secretary. Ms. Smith is an experienced business and cyber security professional with over a decade of experience. She completed studies at University of North Carolina at Charlotte before studying Network Security at ECPI College of Technology. Ms. Smith earned a Cyber Security Degree from Strayer University. She has held several technology management positions including serving as deputy director of technology for the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee. Most recently, Ms. Smith has been an electronic discovery and forensics analyst for the government. Ms. Smith holds an active Top-Secret/SCI Clearance. She is a member of the Audit and Nominating and Governance committees of the Guess & Co. Corporation Board of Directors. Ms. Smith was re-appointed to the Board of Directors in March of 2019.
About Guess & Co. Corporation
Guess & Co. Corporation is an emerging global stewardship solutions company with energy, health care, technology and real estate businesses. We partner with communities, companies and governments to improve the welfare of people. Guess & Co. Corporation is a registered contractor with the U.S. Government to provide solutions to federal government agencies and members of our company have active top-secret/SCI clearances. We are based in Miami, Florida and have over 20 subsidiaries. Guess & Co. Corporation was founded in August of 2017. The management team of Guess & Co. Corporation has over 50 years of combined experience.
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