General Atlantic Team

Our global team is dedicated to helping our portfolio companies become market leaders domestically, regionally, and globally.

HEAR FROM OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Frank Brown

Advisory Director New York

Frank Brown ×

Frank Brown is an Advisory Director at General Atlantic. He previously served as a Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer, leading the firm’s global risk management program. Prior to that, he served as Chief Operating Officer for nine years. Before joining General Atlantic in 2011, Frank served as Dean of INSEAD, a leading international business school, from 2006 to 2011. Under his leadership, the school increased participation of female students in the M.B.A. program by more than 50%, and established the Abu Dhabi campus, the Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, and the Social Innovation Centre. Prior to INSEAD, Frank had a distinguished 26-year career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, including leading its $3.5 billion Advisory Services practice. Frank is the author of The Global Business Leader: Practical Advice for Success in a Transcultural Marketplace, and is a frequent speaker on leadership topics.

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Joern Nikolay

Advisory Director Munich

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Joern Nikolay is an Advisory Director at General Atlantic. Prior to becoming a Senior Advisor, Joern served as Managing Director and Head of DACH at General Atlantic since 2012, where he led General Atlantic’s business in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as part of the EMEA team. Before joining General Atlantic in 2008, Joern was an Associate at TA Associates in London. Prior to that, he was a Case Team Leader at Bain & Company in Düsseldorf, and an Analyst at Morgan Stanley in Frankfurt.

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Samir Assaf

Chairman of MENA London

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Samir Assaf is a Senior Advisor and Chairman of MENA at General Atlantic. In his role, Samir provides strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies across the Middle East and Northern Africa. Based in London, Samir also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of BeyondNetZero, General Atlantic’s climate venture.

Samir has extensive global financial services experience, having spent nearly three decades in leadership roles at HSBC, including his current role as advisor to the Group Chairman and Group CEO and as Non-Executive Chairman of the Boards of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited and HSBC Middle East Holdings BV. He was formerly CEO of HSBC Global Banking & Markets and Chairman of Corporate and Institutional Banking.

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Loek van den Boog

Senior Advisor Amsterdam

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Loek van den Boog is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic and focuses on technology. Prior to joining General Atlantic in 2019, Loek was the former Senior Vice President of EMEA for Oracle, as well as chairman of Mendix, Global Collect and Myriad. Loek leverages his software and technology expertise and expansive network to provide strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies.

Although Loek van der Boog is a Senior Advisor, he is an employee of General Atlantic Cooperatief, U.A. and a portion of his salary and benefits may be reimbursed by General Atlantic’s investors and/or funds pursuant to the governing documents of those investment products or funds.

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Cathy Beaudoin

Senior Advisor New York

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Cathy Beaudoin is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies. Before joining General Atlantic in 2017, Cathy served as President of Amazon Fashion for eight years. During this time, she brought hundreds of reputable brands to Amazon, led Amazon’s 2012 sponsorship of the Met Ball, the opening of Amazon’s 40,000-square-foot photo studio in Williamsburg, New York, and a multi-year partnership with The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to sponsor New York Fashion Week: Men’s. Prior to Amazon, she served as General Manager of Gap’s Piperlime, the e-commerce shoe platform she founded in 2005. While at Gap, she held a number of senior marketing positions across the company’s Old Navy and Banana Republic brands. Cathy began her career at Ogilvy One Worldwide.

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Achim Berg

Senior Advisor Munich

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Achim Berg is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s EMEA investment team and portfolio companies. He also serves as President of BITKOM, Germany’s Federal Association of Information Technology, Telecommunications, and New Media. Before joining General Atlantic in 2016, Achim was Chief Executive Officer of arvato AG, a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann SE. Earlier in his career, he held a number of senior management positions at Microsoft, including Corporate Vice President of the Windows Phone division, General Manager of Microsoft Germany, and Area Vice President of Microsoft International. Prior to that, Achim served on the Executive Board of T-Com and worked at leading technology companies, including Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH, Dell Deutschland GmbH, and Bull AG.

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Lord John Browne

Co-Founder of BeyondNetZero London

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Lord John Browne is a Managing Director at General Atlantic and the co-Founder of BeyondNetZero, General Atlantic’s first climate growth equity fund focused on supporting and scaling high-growth companies that are developing innovative solutions seeking to meet and exceed net zero emissions targets. He also advises the firm on environmental, social and governance considerations. Lord Browne served as Group Chief Executive of international energy company BP from 1995 to 2007, after having joined the company in 1966 as a university apprentice. He led the company through a period of significant growth and transformation, including BP’s merger with Amoco in 1998. His landmark speech at Stanford University in 1997 established BP as a global leader in the way it thought about and sought to address climate change. In 2007, Lord Browne joined Riverstone, where he was co-head of the renewable energy private equity fund until 2015. He is also a former Chairman of Wintershall Dea, a European independent oil and gas company. Lord Browne is Co-Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology. From 2010 to 2015, he was the UK Government’s Lead Non-Executive Board Member. He was knighted in 1998 and made a life peer in 2001. Lord Browne is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow and Past President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He previously served on the boards of DaimlerChrysler, Goldman Sachs, Intel and SmithKline Beecham.

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Enrique Castillo

Senior Advisor Mexico City

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Enrique Castillo is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, drawing on more than 38 years of financial sector experience to provide strategic support and advice to the firm and its portfolio companies in Latin America. Enrique is also a Senior Partner at Ventura Capital Privado. Before joining General Atlantic in 2012, he was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ixe Grupo Financiero from 2000 to 2013 and served as President of the Mexican Banking Association (Asociación de Bancos de México) from 2007 to 2009.

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Henri de Castries

Chairman of Europe London

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Henri de Castries is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies in the EMEA region. Before joining General Atlantic in 2017, Henri served as Chairman and CEO of AXA, spending a total of 27 years at the company. During this time, he oversaw multiple merger and acquisitions transactions including AXA’s acquisition of Group UAP in 1997 and Winterthur Group in 2007. Prior to AXA, he served in the French Treasury Department, during which time he was appointed to oversee foreign exchange markets and balance of payments.

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James Chiu

Senior Advisor

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James Chiu is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic counsel and support for the firm’s investments and portfolio companies in the Consumer sector across China and the greater region. Most recently, James served as the Vice President and Managing Director of General Mills China, where he worked to strengthen the brand and enable digital transformation to drive growth. Prior to his time at General Mills, James served in key leadership roles at Abbott Nutrition, Royal Friesland, Nestle and Mead Johnson.

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Dachen Chu

Senior Advisor

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Dachen Chu is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies, with operational and strategic expertise in helping to scale global internet businesses. Dr. Chu previously served as a Corporate Advisor and Vice President at ByteDance, where he oversaw strategy and investment. Prior to ByteDance, he served in various leadership roles at internet companies, including Vice President of Sina Group, CEO of Sina MiaoChe, General Manager of Weibo open platform, and General Manager of Baidu Corporation’s contextual ads business unit.

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Alberto Fasja Cohen

Senior Advisor

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Mr. Cohen is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic counsel and serve as a valuable resource on General Atlantic’s investments in Mexico and the broader Latin America region. Alberto joins with over two decades of entrepreneurial experience, having co-founded Grupo Axo, a General Atlantic portfolio company since 2017 and a leading multi-brand and multi-channel company with roots in fashion, accessories, footwear, beauty, personal care and household products. Cohen co-led Grupo Axo’s expansion efforts, which have resulted in the company carrying over 30 brands across 5,500 points of sale in both Mexico and Chile. He also serves on the board of Endeavor Mexico, a non-profit that promotes high-impact entrepreneurship in the country.

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Vittorio Colao

Vice Chairman of EMEA

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Vittorio Colao is Vice Chairman of EMEA at General Atlantic. In his role, Mr. Colao draws on his extensive expertise in technology, consumer and digital platforms to provide strategic counsel to the firm’s global investment teams and portfolio companies across EMEA. He previously served as Senior Advisor to General Atlantic from 2019-2021.

Mr. Colao returned to the firm after serving as Minister of Technological Innovation and the Digital Transition for the Italian government from 2021-2022, a role in which he led the growth of inclusive and efficient digital services across Italy and oversaw the country’s space program. Prior to this, Mr. Colao spent 20 years at Vodafone Group, serving as Group Chief Executive for a decade, where he led the business’ significant growth into one of the largest telecommunications groups globally. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director at Verizon and is an Executive Committee member of Bocconi University in Italy.

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Todd Diener

Senior Advisor New York

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Todd Diener is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies in the Consumer sector, drawing on his extensive experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Before joining General Atlantic in 2017, Todd spent 28 years with Brinker International, helping Chili’s, a small restaurant chain, grow into an iconic, global restaurant brand. After serving as President of Chili’s for five years, he became Brinker International’s Chief Operating Officer with oversight of the company’s core brands, including Chili’s, Corner Bakery Café, Maggiano’s Little Italy, On the Border, and Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Todd returned to the role of Chili’s President in 2005 when the brand entered its most aggressive growth phase, building 75-125 new locations per year through the end of 2009 when he retired. Todd is also an Operating Partner at several private equity firms and performs due diligence projects for potential acquisitions.

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Conrado Engel

Senior Advisor São Paulo

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Conrado Engel is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies in Latin America. Before joining General Atlantic in 2020, he served as Senior Executive Vice President at Banco Santander Brasil, where he oversaw the Retail and Wealth Management & Specialized Businesses, including Auto Joint Ventures. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors and Risk and Compliance Committee at Banco Santander. Prior to this, Conrado held several senior roles at HSBC, including CEO of HSBC Brasil and Retail Director for HSBC Asia Pacific. He also previously served as CEO at Financeira Losango and in senior positions at Banco Nacional-Unibanco. Conrado began his career at Citibank S.A.

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Ken Jennings, PhD

Senior Advisor New York

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Ken Jennings, PhD is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic. In his role, Ken provides strategic support and advises the firm’s Healthcare investment team and portfolio companies. Dr. Jennings is also CEO and Co-Founder of Third River Partners. He was previously a managing partner for Accenture’s healthcare transformation group, a partner on Wall Street, co-director of the University of Michigan Healthcare leadership development program, and a best-selling author, a service academy graduate and a military officer.

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