ALI ALIZADEH
Ali Alizadeh is a Principal and a co-founder of Hemisphere. Prior to co-founding Hemisphere, Mr. Alizadeh was a managing director at RBC Capital Markets. Mr. Alizadeh directs the firm’s development and investment efforts as well as managing the firm’s institutional and business relationships. Over the last 30 years, Mr. Alizadeh was instrumental in arranging nearly $1 billion of senior and subordinated debt for the gaming and hospitality industry. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Alizadeh was Senior Vice President in the Corporate Finance Department of Jefferies and Company, Inc. Prior to joining Jefferies, Mr. Alizadeh spent two years as a Managing Director at RBC Dain Rauscher and five years at Miller and Schroeder Financial, Inc. Mr. Alizadeh has also held corporate finance positions at Citicorp, N.A., in Chicago and New York. Mr. Alizadeh holds a B.A. in economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business in Rochester, New York.
PETER AHN
Peter Ahn is a Principal and a co-founder of Hemisphere. Mr. Ahn manages financial and operational aspects of the firm’s businesses and holdings. Mr. Ahn also leads the firm’s debt financing activities. Since 1997, Mr. Ahn was directly involved in completing transactions totaling more than $500 million for gaming, hotel and restaurant projects. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Ahn was an investment banker with Jefferies and Company, Inc. Prior to joining Jefferies, Mr. Ahn spent four years at RBC Dain Rauscher in the fixed income and equity capital market groups. Prior to joining Dain, Mr. Ahn spent four years as a management consultant in the energy business. Mr. Ahn holds a B.A. degree in economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an M.B.A. in strategic management from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
PAUL CHESTOVICH
Paul Chestovich is our General Counsel and Secretary and joined Hemisphere in January 2018. Prior to joining Hemisphere, Mr. Chestovich was a partner at Maslon LLP, a Minneapolis law firm, from 2008 through 2017, where he focused on securities and business transactions. From 2015 through 2017, Mr. Chestovich also served as a governor on Maslon’s Governance Committee. From 2000 to 2008, Mr. Chestovich was an associate attorney at Maslon. Mr. Chestovich holds a B.A. degree in History, Humanities (Medieval Studies), and Classics from St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, a M.A. in Classical Philology from the University of Texas-Austin, and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.