Corporate Governance

Paul J. Taubman is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PJT Partners, a global advisory-focused investment bank.

Since its founding in 2014, PJT Partners has become one of the fastest growing and most respected advisory firms.

Prior to founding PJT Partners, Mr. Taubman spent nearly 30 years at Morgan Stanley where he served in a series of increasingly senior positions, including as executive vice president and Co-President of Institutional Securities, with responsibility for all of the firm’s investment banking, capital markets, and sales and trading businesses. Throughout his career, he has advised companies and Boards on many of the largest and most complex strategic transactions around the globe.

Mr. Taubman serves in a leadership role on numerous philanthropic efforts including Board President of New York Cares, New York City’s largest volunteer organization; Vice Chairman of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Board Member of the Partnership for New York City; Advisory Council member at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; National Advisory Board member of Youth, Inc.; and Trustee of the Foundation for Empowering Citizens with Autism.

Mr. Taubman received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

K. Don Cornwell is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Dynasty Equity, a global sports investment firm focused on acquiring minority interests in sports franchises and other related assets and rights. Prior to founding Dynasty Equity, Mr. Cornwell was a founding partner at PJT Partners, joining the company in 2015 following an 18-year career at Morgan Stanley. At Morgan Stanley, Mr. Cornwell was in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group and established a particularly focused area of expertise in media and entertainment, specifically in sports and gaming. Prior to leaving Morgan Stanley, he served as Head of Global Sports Investment Banking.  Mr. Cornwell has worked on some of the largest and most complex sports and entertainment deals in the industry, including the sale of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the sale of the Buffalo Bills, the sale of IMG to William Morris Endeavor, the sale of Access/DAZN owned Perform Group to Vista owned STATS Inc., a recapitalization of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the formation of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. In addition, he has served as a strategic advisor to the National Football League and the National Basketball Association on numerous occasions. Before he joined Morgan Stanley, Mr. Cornwell worked at McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant and in corporate development for the National Football League. He sits on the Board of Trustees of the Harlem Children’s Zone, an education and social services organization in Central Harlem; the East Harlem Tutorial Program, an after-school program for children in East Harlem; the Board of Directors of New York Cares, New York City’s largest volunteer organization; and the VFILES Foundation, an organization with the mission to increase business ownership for creators in underrepresented communities. Mr. Cornwell served on the Management Board of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business until July 2022. He received an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and an AB in Government from Harvard College.

James Costos served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and Principality of Andorra from August 2013 to January 2017. Mr. Costos currently serves as President of Secuoya Studios, a global Spanish language content studio. In addition, Mr. Costos serves as a Member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, serves as a senior advisor to FC Barcelona, is a senior managing director at Dentons, in their Global Venture Technology group, and sits on the Boards of Directors of Grifols S.A. and the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ+ advocacy and political lobbying organization in the United States. Previously, Mr. Costos was Vice President at Home Box Office, served as an executive at Revolution Studios, and held senior leadership roles for more than a decade at Tod’s S.p.A. and Hermès of Paris. Mr. Costos is a passionate supporter of several cultural and humanitarian organizations, including the Reina Sofia Museum and the Hispanic Society of America. Mr. Costos earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts.

Emily K. Rafferty is President Emerita of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was elected President of the Museum in 2005 and served in that role until her retirement in March 2015. She had been a member of the Museum’s staff since 1976 serving in various roles in development, membership and external affairs until becoming President and Chief Administrative Officer in 2005, overseeing some 2,000 full- and part-time employees and volunteers. Ms. Rafferty’s global experience in some 50 countries on behalf of the Museum included interactions and negotiations with many senior world leaders. She is a Vice Chair of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, a Board member of Carnegie Hall, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Asia Society, Civitella Ranieri, an Artist Residency Program in Italy, the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, and the Association of Art Museum Curators. She is also a Board member of Koç Holdings, Istanbul from 2018 to the present; a member of the Advisory Council of the American University of Beirut and the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Rafferty is principal of Emily K. Rafferty & Associates, a consulting resource for non-profit institutions. Ms. Rafferty served as a Board member of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 2011 to 2017 (Chair, 2012 to 2016), Senior Adviser for Heritage Protection and Conservation for UNESCO from 2015 to 2017 and was Chair of NYC & Company (the city’s tourism, marketing and partnering organization) from 2008 to 2020 and continues to serve as an ex-officio board and executive committee member. She previously consulted for Russell Reynolds Associates in the firm’s non-profit sector and The Shed, a NYC performing arts center.

Thomas M. Ryan currently serves as the Lead Director of PJT Partners. Mr. Ryan is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CVS Health Corporation, formerly known as CVS Caremark Corporation, a pharmacy healthcare provider (“CVS”). He served as Chairman of CVS from April 1999 to May 2011 and Chief Executive Officer of CVS from May 1998 to February 2011, and also served as President from May 1998 to May 2010. Mr. Ryan serves on the board of Five Below, Inc., and is an Operating Partner of Advent International. Mr. Ryan was a director of Yum! Brands, Inc. from 2002 to 2017, Reebok International Ltd. from 1998 to 2005, Bank of America Corporation from 2004 to 2010 and Vantiv, Inc. from 2012 to 2015.

Grace Reksten Skaugen, a Norwegian national, has extensive experience working with a broad array of European companies. She previously served as a senior advisor to Deutsche Bank (2007-2014) and HSBC (2014-2019). In 2009, Ms. Skaugen co-founded the Norwegian Institute of Directors, where she still serves on its board. From 2012 to 2015, she was deputy chair of the Norwegian oil company Statoil (now Equinor) and served on its board for 13 years. Ms. Skaugen has served as the deputy chair and chair of the Compensation Committee at Orkla ASA, has been a board member and member of the Compensation and Sustainability Committees at Lundin Energy AB and chaired Euronav NV (where she was a member of the Compensation Committee, Sustainability Committee and Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee). She currently chairs Orrön Energy AB (member of the Compensation Committee) and is a board member of Investor AB (member of the Audit and Risk Committee).  Ms. Skaugen is also a trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. She has previous investment banking experience, having worked at the Nordic bank SEB, where she advised companies within the energy, transportation and technology sectors. Ms. Skaugen started her career as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia Radiation Laboratory in New York. She is a physicist by education and holds a PhD in laser physics from Imperial College in London. She also holds an M.B.A. from the Norwegian School of Management, BI.

Kenneth C. Whitney has managed a private family investment office since April 2013, focused on start-up businesses and entertainment projects. Since his retirement from Blackstone Inc. in April 2013 until September 2015, he was also a Senior Advisor to Blackstone. Mr. Whitney was previously a Senior Managing Director and Head of Blackstone’s Investor Relations & Business Development Group from 1998 to April 2013. After joining Blackstone in 1988, Mr. Whitney focused his efforts on raising capital for Blackstone’s private investment funds and the establishment of Blackstone affiliates in the alternative investment area. Mr. Whitney began his career at Coopers & Lybrand in 1980, where he spent time in the firm’s accounting and audit areas as well as in the tax and mergers and acquisitions areas. Mr. Whitney is a Tony Award-winning producer, and currently sits on the Board of Trustees for The First Tee and the University of Delaware, where he received a B.S. in Accounting.