Stephen Mark Peel (born 29 December 1965) is a British businessman, private equity investor and Olympic athlete.

Early life

Peel was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, on 29 December 1965. He was educated at

King's School, Chester The King's School, Chester, is a British co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18. It is one of the seven 'King's Schools' established (or re-endowed and renamed) by King Henry VIII in 1541 after the Dissolution of t ...

. He has a degree in land economy from

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

in 1987, and is now a Wilkins Fellow. In 2015, he completed a Master of Applied Statistics degree at the Jackson Institute of Global Affairs at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Rowing career

Peel started his rowing career at King’s School Chester. He went on to row in the Blue Boat for the three years of his undergraduate degree while studying at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Peel also served as Cambridge University Boat Club President in 1987. He rowed in the Great Britain national team from 1985 to 1988. Peel represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in coxless fours rowing at the 1988 Olympics in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. He represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the eight, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh, Scotland. Peel is the founder of the ''Infinity Boat Club'' in Teesside, which was created to help deliver a competitive rowing program to less privileged school children in the area. Peel is also part of a group of founding donors that assisted with the establishment of The Cambridge University Boat Club Rowing Charitable Fund.

Career

Peel worked at

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

from 1989, founded TPG's European operations in 1997, ran their Russian and Eastern European operations from 2006 and co-headed the Asia operations from 2009 to 2013. In 2014, Peel left TPG Capital. Peel chairs the board of the ''Tujenge Africa Foundation'', which was founded in 2015. From 2016 to 2017, Peel served as a visiting fellow of practice at the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is a school of public policy founded in 2010 at the University of Oxford in England. The School was founded following a £75 million donation from a business magnate Leonard Blavatnik, supported by £26 million ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He is on the advisory council of the

Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs The Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs (formerly the Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs) is a professional school of Yale University that specializes in global affairs. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the school's mission ...

. Peel is on the Advisory Board of the Institute for State Effectiveness, which is works on pathways for economic development, peace, and stability within various countries and across different regions in the world. Until 2014, Peel was a senior partner at the global

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

TPG Capital TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American investment company based in Fort Worth, Texas. The private equity firm is focused on leveraged buyouts and growth capital. TPG manages investment funds in growth c ...

."Top TPG Dealmaker Stephen Peel to Leave Firm"
''The Wall Street Journal''. In 2016, Peel co-founded a new private equity firm, Novalpina Capital, which focused on control-orientated equity investments in European middle market businesses. After a dispute between the three founders, the firm’s investors voted to remove it as fund manager of its private equity fund in 2021. The firm was previously most notable for its majority stake that amounted to 70% in Israeli surveillance technology firm

NSO Group NSO Group Technologies (NSO standing for Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the company's founders) is an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus, which is capable of remote zero-click surveillance o ...

, which was acquired in February 2019. Peel stepped down as a non-executive director at the NGO, Global Witness. Peel is the founder of SMP Policy Innovation Ltd, a not-for-profit policy organisation aiming to promote, design and assist government policy.

Personal life

He is married to

Yana Peel Yana Peel (born June 1974) is a Canadian executive, businesswoman, children's author and philanthropist who is currently global head of arts and culture at Chanel.Bailey, Sarah. "In Conversation: Art and Fashion Are Both About Desire", '' Red'', ...

, who is a businesswoman, philanthropist and arts patron, most recently global head of arts and culture at

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

, and they have two children. They married in 1999, and live in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peel, Stephen Living people 1965 births Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge British investors British investment bankers Goldman Sachs people TPG Capital Yale University faculty Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics British male rowers People from Blackburn with Darwen People educated at The King's School, Chester Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games