Mitchell H. Caplan is a former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Background

Caplan grew up in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

, and graduated from the

Norfolk Academy Norfolk Academy (NA) is an independent co-educational day school in Norfolk, Virginia. Chartered in 1728, it is the oldest private school in Virginia and the eighth oldest school in the United States. In 1966, Norfolk Academy merged with Country D ...

in 1975. He subsequently received a BA in history from

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

– later receiving his JD and an MBA from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

. Caplan became involved with

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation JDRF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that funds type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, provides a broad array of community and activist services to the T1D population and actively advocates for regulation favorable to medical research and approval o ...

, serving on its board, when one of his daughters (Ilana, 21) was diagnosed with diabetes. He has also served as a board member for the American Committee for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS) and the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

and School, as well as on the Corporate Fund Board of the

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

and as chairperson for Teach for America's Washington, DC advisory board.

Career

From 1984 to 1990 Caplan was an associate of the law firm

Shearman & Sterling Shearman & Sterling LLP is a multinational law firm headquartered in New York City, United States. The firm's lawyers come from some 80 countries, speak more than 60 languages and practice US, English, EU, French, Spanish, German, Hong Kong, OHAD ...

."IT 100 Special Report 2006: E-Trade Financial"
''BusinessWeek.'' Accessed 3 December 2007 Caplan served as vice-chairman and president of Telebanc Financial Corporation, a federally chartered savings bank, from January 1994. Caplan became CEO of Telebanc in 1998. E-Trade Financial acquired Telebanc in early 2000. The bank became known as E-Trade Bank. After the acquisition of Telebanc, Caplan served as chief financial products officer and managing director of E-Trade North America. He also became chairman of the board and CEO of E-Trade Bank. In 2002, Caplan was named president and COO of E-Trade Financial. In January 2003, after the departure of Christos Cotsakos, Caplan became CEO and director of E-Trade Financial. During his term as CEO, Caplan was instrumental in the strategic acquisitions of Harrisdirect from

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

and BrownCo from

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...

. During the credit crisis of 2007, Caplan was criticized for investing in risky and complex debt instruments. He stepped down as CEO of E-Trade on November 29, 2007. That same day, an agreement with

Citadel LLC Citadel LLC (formerly known as Citadel Investment Group, LLC) is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Kenneth C. Griffin, it has more than $50 billion in assets under management . The company h ...

was announced resulting in a cash infusion of $2.5B. From October 2008 to 2010 Caplan served as a senior advisor with Aquiline Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New York, which invests in financial services enterprises and industries including property and casualty insurance, banking, securities, asset management, life insurance and financial technology. In 2010 Caplan became CEO of Jefferson National, a financial services firm that specializes in servicing registered investment advisers and their clients. In his time at Jefferson National, Caplan has oversaw a management buyout from CNO Financial Group Inc. (then Conseco Inc.) in 2012. In 2018, Professional Capital Services, an independent retirement services platform, announced the appointment of Mitch Caplan to its board of directors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caplan, Mitch American computer businesspeople American chief executives of financial services companies Brandeis University alumni Emory University alumni Living people American technology chief executives People associated with Shearman & Sterling Year of birth missing (living people)