Bill McGlashan

American investor and businessperson

Bill McGlashan

McGlashan in 2014

Born|  (1963-11-20) November 20, 1963 (age 61)
Education| Yale University (BA)
Stanford University (MBA)
Occupation(s)| Founder and Ex-Managing Partner, TPG Growth
Spouse| Marie Rasic McGlashan
Children| 3

William E. McGlashan Jr. (born November 20, 1963) is an American businessman and former private equity investor. McGlashan founded TPG Growth,[1] the growth equity and smaller buyout investment arm of TPG Capital, a global private equity investment firm.[2] He is also a founder and was the initial-CEO of The Rise Fund, a social impact fund he co-founded with Bono and Jeffrey Skoll.[3]

McGlashan is a co-founder and a former board member of STX Entertainment, an American film and television studio launched in 2014 with Robert Simonds,[4] and a cofounder and director of Evolution Media Capital.[5]

McGlashan was arrested on March 12, 2019, after being caught on FBI audio recordings, for participating in a college admissions bribery scandal. He was then fired for cause by TPG. He pled guilty in February 2021 to paying William "Rick" Singer to fix his son's test score.[6] In May 2021, McGlashan was ordered to undergo a sentence which includes three months in prison and a $250,000 fine.[7]

## Education

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McGlashan earned a B.A. with honors from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[8]

As a Stanford University business student in the late 1980s, McGlashan co-founded the World Service Project.[9] The project’s goal was to offer administrative and practical support to projects with a new model of multinational teams in such areas as environmental preservation and hunger prevention.[9] The organization received support from U.S. Senators and Representatives, The Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. Peace Corps and Nobel laureate Oscar Arias Sanchez.[9]

## Career

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Before joining TPG Capital in 2004, McGlashan was Chairman and CEO of the micro-cap company Critical Path.[10] He joined the email service company in April 2001, three months into an accounting scandal that caused Critical Path’s stock to drop 75 percent, prompted two dozen shareholder lawsuits, and resulted in criminal charges against four executives.[11] McGlashan was credited with keeping Critical Path out of bankruptcy, eliminating 87 percent of its debt, and settling the lawsuits within three months for $17.5 million, compared to the potential claim total of $240 million and delaying its NASDAQ delisting until shortly after his departure for failing to meet the minimum $15 million market capitalization requirement.[11]

Previously, McGlashan co-founded and was CEO of Vectis Group, a venture capital firm that invested in emerging markets.[10] Prior to Vectis Group, McGlashan co-founded and served as CEO of Generation Ventures, which focused on developing new healthcare and technology companies in China.[12][13] In 1994, he co-founded and served as President of Pharmanex, Inc. In 1998, Pharmanex was sold to Nu Skin, an herbal supplement company.[11][14][15] Earlier in his career, McGlashan was a senior associate with Bain Capital and Information Partners.[2]

In 2013, McGlashan relocated temporarily with his family to Mumbai, India, to manage investments in India and Asia.[16] He was said to be “the first global head of a premier bulge bracket (private equity) house physically making such a ‘transformative’ relocation”.[16]

### Board positions

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McGlashan was active on a number of boards, including Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. (as chairman), XOJET (as chairman), Creative Artists Agency, HotSchedules, Elevance Renewable Sciences, Ride, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Brava, Seasoned, and Common Sense Media.[10][12][17] He has also been a board member at Survey Monkey, SuccessFactors, Schiff Nutrition International, AgraQuest, and WIL Research Laboratories.[10]

### Non-profit organizations

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Among non-profits, McGlashan has had board of director roles at Common Sense Media and is active with the Young Presidents’ Organization and the World Economic Forum, and had served on the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council.[10][8][18] He is also the founder of The Rise Fund, a social impact fund started by TPG Growth in partnership with Elevar Equity.[19] McGlashan was recognized for The Rise Fund, a $2 billion impact-investing initiative, in the 2017 Vanity Fair New Establishment list.[20] Shortly before it launched, The Rise Fund scored a major investment from U2 lead singer Bono, who would also become McGlashan's Rise Fund business partner.[21]

## Personal life

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McGlashan is married to Marie Rasic McGlashan; together they have three children. The couple donated to Dominican Sisters Vision of Hope in 2017 and 2018.[22][23] They have also donated to the Marin Agricultural Land Trust.[24] He is the nephew of the former Marin County supervisor Charles McGlashan, who died in 2011.[25]

### Legal issues

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Main article: 2019 college admissions bribery scandal

On March 11, 2019, McGlashan, along with numerous others was arrested for his role in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. After a lengthy FBI investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice charged McGlashan with falsifying his son’s test scores and attempting to secure his son's admission into the University of Southern California by bribing officials into enhancing his son's academic and athletic abilities in a sport he never played so his son's application would be more competitive and be eligible for the school's "side door" admission.[26][27] A report by CNN stated that "McGlashlan allegedly paid $50,000 to the charitable arm of the college prep group with the understanding that the company would correct his son's answers on the ACT."[28] The allegation against McGlashan resulted in his being fired by TPG.[29][30][31][32] However, McGlashan claims he was "initially put on leave” and “already had resigned” prior to being terminated for cause. However a recent Axios article recently stated, “It seems that McGlashan just can't avoid lying: There's no way he didn't know why his bosses wanted to fire him rather than allowing him to resign.”[33]

On February 10, 2021, McGlashan accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud, conditional on being allowed to appeal the judge’s decision to not dismiss the wire fraud charge against him.[34][6] He was sentenced to three months in prison and was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine.[6][7] Despite being given the option to withdraw his plea, McGlashan issued an apology to the court and voluntarily reported to prison on June 9, 2021, serving out his sentence.[35][36][7] McGlashan unsuccessfully appealed the judge's decision in August 2023.[37][38]

## References

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1. ^ "TPG Growth Founder Bill McGlashan Placed on Immediate, Indefinite Leave Over College Admissions Cheating Scandal". Fortune. Retrieved Mar 23, 2019.
2. ^ a b "William McGlashan". Endeavor Global. Endeavor Global. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
3. ^ Andrew Ross Sorkin (December 19, 2016). "A New Fund Seeks Both Financial and Social Returns". The New York Times.
4. ^ Bradley, Richard. "Q&A with William McGlashan and Robert Simonds". Worth. Worth. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
5. ^ "William E. McGlashan Jr". Bloomberg Business. Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
6. ^ a b c "Ex-TPG Executive McGlashan Pleads Guilty in College Scandal". Bloomberg News. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
7. ^ a b c Raymond, Nate (May 12, 2021). "Former TPG Capital exec sentenced to three months in prison for U.S. college scam". Reuters. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
8. ^ a b "William E. McGlashan Jr". World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
9. ^ a b c Fine, Doug (November 29, 1989). "Business School students found worldwide service organization". The Stanford Daily (November 29, 1989): 2. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
10. ^ a b c d e "Team: William E. McGlashan, Jr". TPG Growth. TPG Growth. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
11. ^ a b c Victoria, Murphy. "Critical Juncture". Forbes. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
12. ^ a b "XOKet Board of Directors". XOJet. XOJet. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
13. ^ Zich, Janet (December 1997). "A Closer Look: Lewis, McGlashan". Stanford Business (December 1997): 7. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
14. ^ Johnson, Ian (3 December 1997). "A Fight Over Rice Yeast Pits Chinese, Western Medicines". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
15. ^ Emmert, J.M. "The Road to $1 Billion". DirectSellingNews. DirectSellingNews. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
16. ^ a b Barman, Arijit. "Best time for a PE to be in India: McGlashan, TPG head". Economic Times. Economic Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
17. ^ "e.l.f. Beauty Inc (ELF.C)". Reuters. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
18. ^ "Advisory Council". Stanford Graduate School of Business. March 4, 2019.
19. ^ Michael J. de la Merced (12 September 2016). "TPG Growth Plans to Start a Social Impact Fund". The New York Times.
20. ^ "THE 2017 NEW ESTABLISHMENT". Vanity Fair. October 2017.
21. ^ Cohen, William D. (May 2, 2019). "How Bono's Investment Partber Got Busted In The College-Admissions Scandal". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
22. ^ "Honor Roll of Donors" (PDF). Dominican Vision Sisters of Hope. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
23. ^ "Honor Roll of Donors" (PDF). Dominican Sisters Vision of Hope. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
24. ^ "MALT Supporters". Marin Agricultural Land Trust: 11. 2008–2009. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
25. ^ "Marin residents charged in college bribery scandal". Mar 12, 2019. Retrieved Mar 23, 2019.
26. ^ "FBI accuses wealthy parents, including celebrities, in college-entrance bribery scheme". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
27. ^ Schleifer, Theodore (March 14, 2019). "One of Silicon Valley's most prominent voices for ethical investing is out amid the college admissions bribery scandal". RECODE.
28. ^ Julia Horowitz; Jackie Wattles. "TPG says it has fired Bill McGlashan 'for cause' over ties to college admissions scheme". CNN. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
29. ^ Williams, Trey (March 12, 2019). "CAA Owner TPG Puts Co-Founder Bill McGlashan on Leave After Arrest in College Admissions Scandal". The Wrap. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
30. ^ Willmer, Sabrina (March 14, 2019). "TPG Fires McGlashan, Lets Investors Pull Money From Social Fund". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
31. ^ Norman, Hannah (March 18, 2019). "Amid college admissions scandal, TPG fires McGlashan, allows investors to yank money". San Francisco Business Times.
32. ^ Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew. Bill McGlashan out at TPG after college admissions scandal, Financial Times, March 14, 2019.
33. ^ "DealBook Briefing: Did Bill McGlashan Quit TPG, or Was He Pushed Out?". The New York Times. 2019-03-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
34. ^ "Former executive pleads guilty in college admissions scandal". ABC News. 2021-02-10. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
35. ^ Oshin, Olafimihan (May 12, 2021). "Former private equity executive sentenced to three months in college admissions scandal". The Hill. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
36. ^ Associated Press (May 13, 2021). "College Admissions Scandal: Mill Valley Executive William McGlashan Sentenced To 3 Months Prison". KPIX-TV. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
37. ^ Raymond, Nate (February 9, 2023). "Former TPG Capital exec fights 'Varsity Blues' conviction on appeal". reuters.com.
38. ^ Raymond, Nate; Stempel, Jonathan (August 14, 2023). "Former TPG executive's guilty plea upheld in US college admissions scandal". reuters.com.