Media coverage of CEO appointment
Selected media coverage of Nader Mousavizadeh's appointment as CEO
Financial Times
Big brains trust
A former Goldman Sachs investment banker and adviser to ex-UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, Nader Mousavizadeh has emerged as chief executive of the global strategic advisory firm Oxford Analytica.
Mr Mousavizadeh joins ahead of the annual Oxford Analytica conference held next week at Christ Church in Oxford, focused on global risk and economic risk. Among the speakers will be HSBC chairman Stephen Green, Thomson Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer, and Sir Richard Dannatt, the former British Army chief of general staff.
The Times
Business big shot
Alexandra Frean
Nader Mousavizadeh Age 41 Position Chief executive, Oxford Analytica Nader Mousavizadeh had already distinguished himself in two very different careers — as an adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and as a mergers and acquisitions specialist at Goldman Sachs — before setting up his own company providing strategic advice to corporations and governments in emerging markets.
His first job was as a journalist at the influential American magazine The New Republic. A series of highly critical articles on the UN's handling of the Bosnian conflict, followed by a book on the subject, led to an invitation from the UN to work in the region for the organisation.
Mr Mousavizadeh, 41, now hopes to draw on all aspects of his background as he takes up the post of chief executive at Oxford Analytica, the global strategic advisory firm, which counts 50 governments and 150 Fortune 500 companies as clients. "One of the new opportunities that we will be focusing on is advising multinational corporations from emerging markets that increasingly have the capital and risk appetite to take on opportunities in other emerging markets, or in developed countries," Mr Mousavizadeh said.
He plans to expand both the client base and areas covered by Oxford Analytica, which draws its expertise from a 1,500-strong panel of experts, They are mostly academics or former senior executives who provide the geopolitical analysis and local know-how that investment banks are neither able or inclined to provide.
As new markets open up around the world, Mr Mousavizadeh expects increasingly to see opportunities for business in the natural resources, financial services and telecoms sectors, often where there is big state backing or considerable government involvement through regulation. "The role of the State is increasingly important in many areas, and understanding the government, politics and geopolitical interests is crucial in getting to the finishing line," he said.
Mr Mousavizadeh, was born to a Danish mother and Iranian father and grew up in Denmark before moving to the United States to graduate from Harvard and then to Britain to study as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. He has lived in England for the past three years with his wife Alexandra, an economist, and his three sons. A keen sailor, he keeps a boat in Denmark, where his mother still runs a farm.
Bloomberg
Oxford Analytica Names Mousavizadeh Chief Executive Officer
By Jacqueline Simmons
Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Oxford Analytica, which does analysis for governments and companies, named Nader Mousavizadeh chief executive officer as it adds mergers and acquisitions advisory to its roster of services.
Mousavizadeh, 41, will take over as CEO of the consulting firm tomorrow. He previously founded Archipelago Partners, a London-based firm focusing on advice to companies and governments in emerging markets. Oxford Analytica, with 75 employees, plans to build a team of about 10 to provide general strategic advice, including M&A, Mousavizadeh said in an interview today.
U.K.-based Oxford Analytica offers analysis of geopolitical, social and macroeconomic events to governments and companies. The firm is adding M&A advisory as the volume of transactions in emerging markets increases, with $467 billion of transactions announced in Africa, the Middle East, eastern Europe, Latin America and less developed markets in Asia so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Global clients are pursuing opportunities in emerging markets where there are critical sovereign aspects in areas like natural resources, telecoms, transport and financial services,” said Mousavizadeh, who has worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and been a special assistant to former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
“We can help negotiate alongside the investment banks so that once there is a decision on value, we advise on negotiating with governments to create a successful, lasting presence,”
Mousavizadeh said.
