Men make plans so God can have a hearty laugh. That is about the best way I can explain how I un-retired to join the Family Office of the Rothschild family (Five Arrows Principal Investments) to take the helm at Juvare.

Hitting a new country every month, picking up new skills, every evening with Sharmila and the dog at a bar… retired life was everything I wanted. Then came a call from the inimitable Vivek Kumar. As impressed as I was with the opportunity, I set the bar fairly high for myself.

“Vivek, if I can convince myself that it is exciting enough that I will work for free, I will know it is time to un-retire. CEO Pro Bono – now that is a title I can aspire to.”

Over thirty meetings on either side of the Atlantic later, I got convinced. I have some blurred memories of Robert (“Bob”) Watson (my predecessor and another great leader who helped me thru the process) catching Covid after our meeting, chasing Patrick Lane around the Marta station, showing up in my motorcycle clothes to meet the impeccably dressed Patrick Macfarlane, some great scotches with Fraser Handcock and Sacha Oshry in Scotland, Jeff Telford getting stranded in the bar when downtown Roswell shut down around us, Bryan Kaplan making do with some savories for breakfast in the executive club of a Marriott in DC and so on and so forth.

Finally, it came down to
(*) the mission of the company and
(**) how relatable the people I got to meet were. It felt like I can “belong” in this group.

Frankly, in the last two weeks, as I have gotten to know more folks in the company, I get the sense that maybe, I should be paying to do this job!

As exciting as it is for me, for all the rest of the team, I have to believe it is a bit of an anxious time. I hope you will come across some of my teammates soon and when you do, give them your frank opinion of me. It will help them understand me quickly and make our relationship that much more productive.

Just don’t mention my silly jokes. For even after un-retiring… “Dad jokes. That is how … I roll…” 🙂