engineering and the securing of $250 million in Texas state funding. In 2014, Mr. Hellmund was the co-founder of the FIA Formula-1 Mexican Grand Prix, which included raising more than $170 million in Mexican government funding. Additionally, Mr. Hellmund was a co-founder of the Circuit of the Americas race track in Austin, Texas.
Mr. Hellmund has been the founder and President of Tavo Hellmund, Inc. since 1994, the Founding and Managing Partner at Full Throttle Productions, LP since 2004, the Founding Partner and President at Event Partners Marketing, LLC since 2011 and co-founder of Grand Prix Partners, LLC. since 2014. These companies manage and provide event project management, day of event oversight, staffing/volunteer services, venue planning, consulting and logistics support, marketing, sales, sponsorship, public relations and consultation services for sporting and special events to many Fortune 500 companies, federal governments and countries around the world. Mr. Hellmund’s global event production experience includes brokering, sanctioning, producing or promoting over 200 sporting, entertainment and art/cultural events, and selling in excess of 15,000,000 tickets with sales of more than $1.4 billion dollars.
Mr. Hellmund began racing in the late 1980s, competing and winning in European open-wheel racing and in the US in various NASCAR and SCCA series. In 1993, Mr. Hellmund founded Safe & Sober® which connects race drivers and schools to educate students on the necessity of wearing a seat belt and the dangers of drinking and driving. Following the success of that program, he founded Racing for Education® which provides after-school programs that utilize racing experience to emphasize to students the importance of continuing their education. Additionally, in 1995 he developed and designed one of the first non-blind spot rear-view mirrors and sold it to General Motors in 1997.
Mr. Hellmund attended the University of Texas and graduated from St. Edward’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
Mr. Clark brings significant financial, strategic, sourcing, and transactional expertise in a career spanning over 30 years in investment banking and private equity, with a history of working in sports-related businesses. Mr. Clark was also a professional baseball player in the late 1980s in the Cincinnati Reds organization, in addition to acting as a part time scout for both the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros from 2007-2019. He currently serves as Managing Director of Hall Capital Partners, a private investment division of a family office, and the Founder and Managing Partner of Tulsa Capital Partners. Prior to his current roles, he was a Managing Director at private equity firm Gridiron Capital for over 9 years, and held commercial and investment banking positions at Stifel, Morgan Stanley, Bankers Trust, UBS, and Boatmen’s Bancshares in St. Louis, New York and London.
Mr. Clark also worked as an in-house consultant for Rawlings Sporting Goods Company from 2002-2003, during which time he led the tuck-in acquisition of ABC Helmets. He was also involved in the sale of Rawlings to K2 Sports, and was a member of post-transaction K2/Rawlings integration teams that formed a team-sports hub for Rawlings in St. Louis.
Mr. Clark currently sits on the boards of Athletic Supply, JAC Products and Pryer Aerospace. He has led initiatives targeting improving operations at companies he has invested in, including restructuring supply agreements and contracts, standardization of internal analytical processes, first 100-day integration plans and long-term value creation plans. Previous board roles include AEI, McKenzie Sports, PAS Technologies, Ramsey Industries, Schutt Sports and Yellowstone Landscape Group.
Mr. Clark has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of Missouri where he played varsity football and baseball, a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Washington University in St. Louis and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Our management team will be further supported by our independent directors, Sashi Brown, Endre Holen, Joyce C. Johnson, and Sebastian Park.
Mr. Brown is currently Chief Planning and Operations Officer, Basketball for Monumental Sports & Entertainment. Previously, he was Executive Vice President and de facto General Manager for the Cleveland Browns, and Senior Vice President for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Prior to his sports career he spent 3 years as an attorney with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. Mr. Brown is a graduate of Hampton University and Harvard Law School.
Mr. Holen is a former Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company with 30 years of consulting experience, most recently leading the Global Technology, Media and Telecom practice. He currently sits on the board of Hudl, a sports analysis software company, and Nordic Semiconductor, a public company listed on the Norwegian stock exchange.