Lexington, Kentucky, June 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Nate Morris, Chairman and CEO of Rubicon, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 East Central Award winner. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed. An independent panel of judges selected Mr. Morris based on his entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
“I am thrilled to receive this award,” said Nate Morris, Chairman and CEO of Rubicon. “Rubicon was founded in Kentucky, in the heartland of America, and our success proves that innovation can come from anywhere in our great country. It is humbling to be in the company of such a prestigious group of award alumni from all over America, including Howard Schultz, Daymond John, and Reid Hoffman, and I look forward to working alongside other alumni in the coming years. I would also like to thank the entire EY team for their tireless support of entrepreneurs everywhere.”
Rubicon is the world’s largest digital marketplace for waste and recycling and provider of innovative software-based solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. The company provides digital waste, recycling, and sustainability solutions to customers in all 50 U.S. states and 20 countries around the world.
As an East Central award winner, Mr. Morris will now be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 National Awards. National finalists and winners, as well as the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2023.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has previously honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
- Cherie Kloss of SnapNurse
- Saeju Jeong of Noom
- Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.
- Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company
- Jodi Berg of Vitamix
- Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation
- Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.
- Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
- Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks
- James Park of Fitbit
- Daymond John of FUBU
- Sheila Mikhail of AskBio
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank. In East Central, sponsors also include Valuation Research Corporation, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP and Frost Brown Todd LLC.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. Please visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY Private
As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private.
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About Nate Morris
Nate Morris is the Chairman & CEO of Rubicon, the world’s largest digital marketplace for waste and recycling, and provider of innovative software-based solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. Morris is a ninth-generation Kentuckian born in Lexington and raised by a single mother. He remains close with his grandfather, a long-time union leader at the local Ford automobile plant. Morris attended Kentucky public schools. He was the first Kentuckian to be named to Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list and to be recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is also the youngest inductee ever to the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Morris is a Senior Advisor to the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a member of Concordia’s Leadership Council and the Trilateral Commission.
About Rubicon
Rubicon is the world’s largest digital marketplace for waste and recycling, and provider of innovative software-based solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. Creating a new industry standard by using technology to drive environmental innovation, the Company helps turn businesses into more sustainable enterprises, and neighborhoods into greener and smarter places to live and work. Rubicon’s mission is to end waste. It helps its partners find economic value in their waste streams and confidently execute on their sustainability goals. Learn more at Rubicon.com.
Rubicon previously announced an agreement for a business combination with Founder SPAC (Nasdaq: FOUN), which is expected to result in Rubicon becoming a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “RBT” early in the third quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.
About Founder SPAC
Founder is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. While Founder is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region, the company focuses on businesses within the technology sector, with a specific focus on the theme of Digital Transformation. Founder is led by CEO Osman Ahmed, CFO Manpreet Singh, and Executive Chairman Hassan Ahmed. The company’s independent directors include Jack Selby, Steve Papa, Allen Salmasi, and Rob Theis. Sponsor and advisor, Nikhil Kalghatgi, leads the company’s advisory board.
Important Information About the Business Combination and Where to Find It
Founder’s shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, carefully and in their entirety, the preliminary proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 1, 2022 (including any amendments or supplements thereto) and, when available, the definitive proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus, as well as other documents filed with the SEC, as these materials will contain important information about Founder, Rubicon and the other parties to the Merger Agreement (as defined in the Registration Statement), and the Business Combination (as defined in the Registration Statement). After the Registration Statement is declared effective, the definitive proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of Founder as of a record date to be established for voting on the Business Combination and other matters described in the Registration Statement. Founder shareholders will also be able to obtain copies of the proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC that will be incorporated by reference in the proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus, without charge, once available, at the SEC’s web site at sec.gov, or by directing a request to: Founder SPAC, 11752 Lake Potomac Drive, Potomac, MD, 20854, Attention: Chief Financial Officer, (240) 418-2649.
Participants in the Solicitation
Founder and its directors and executive officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from Founder’s shareholders with respect to the Business Combination. A list of the names of those directors and executive officers and a description of their interests in the Business Combination is contained in the Registration Statement.
Rubicon and its directors and executive officers may also be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Founder in connection with the Business Combination. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the Business Combination is contained in the Registration Statement.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Founder’s and Rubicon’s actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believe,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Founder’s and Rubicon’s expectations with respect to future performance and anticipated financial impacts of the Business Combination, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the Business Combination and the timing of the completion of the Business Combination. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results, including factors that are outside of Founder’s and Rubicon’s control and that are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Founder and Rubicon following the announcement of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein; (2) the inability to complete the Business Combination, including due to failure to obtain the approval of the shareholders of Founder, approvals or other determinations from certain regulatory authorities, or other conditions to closing in the Merger Agreement; (3) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement or that could otherwise cause the transactions contemplated therein to fail to close; (4) the inability to obtain or maintain the listing of the combined company’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange following the Business Combination; (5) the risk that the Business Combination disrupts current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the Business Combination; (6) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition and the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably and to retain its key employees; (7) costs related to the Business Combination; (8) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (9) the possibility that Rubicon or the combined company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; (10) the combined company’s ability to raise financing in the future and to comply with restrictive covenants related to long-term indebtedness; (11) the impact of COVID-19 on Rubicon’s business and/or the ability of the parties to complete the Business Combination; and (12) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Registration Statement and other documents filed, or to be filed, by Founder with the SEC.
Founder cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Although Founder believes the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements or projections set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements or projections will be achieved. There may be additional risks that Founder and Rubicon presently do not know of or that they currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Founder cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Neither Founder nor Rubicon undertakes any duty to update these forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law.
No Offer or Solicitation
This press release shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent, or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Business Combination. This press release shall also not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act.
