R. Adam Smith

Empowering private companies and their owners since 1993: single family offices, financing, direct investing, investment banking, boards, strategy. 

Veteran in private capital, M&A and investment banking, corporate dev, strategy, governance.  

Proud alumni of Columbia Business School.  

Founder of Family Business Audiocast c2022
https://bit.ly/FBA_linkedin 

Proven change agent:
Backer of tens of founders, CEOs, family offices, operating partners; mentor to many entrepreneurs. Since ‘02, founder of three successful management firms - Circle Peak Capital LLC, Big Sky Partners LLC, Family Office Private Advisors LLC. Investor in, buyer of, advisor to, tens of companies in consumer brands, digital, e-commerce, and financial services.

Governance expert: 
Board member / advisor to 12 investor-backed private companies since ‘98. Chairman of several. Board member of several non-profit entities since 2002, including founder or founding board member of three.  

Veteran investor:
Privileged to serve in lead roles in 20 + principal investments in several investment partnerships I have been a part of (or founded). Since 2002, we led deals, collectively, involving $300M+ of private equity, @ a billion of total capital, and $2B+ sales.  

Founder, 2002, Circle Peak Capital - LBOs w/ entrepreneurs; invest w/ private equity + family offices.  Control investments. Sourced, negotiated, structured, financed, closed 9 control-stake buyouts - backers included sophisticated general partners, hedge funds, + family offices, PE funds, sophisticated investors.

Salomon Brothers:
(Salomon Brothers Strategic Advisors)
Founding member, Mergers & Acquisitions division. 
Founding member, advisory board. 
Formerly led private equity and global family offices. 
Provided support to securities arm. 

Corporate Development expert:
Expert in capital, strategic ideas, business development, valuations, analysis, planning, budgeting, governance metrics, boards. 

Media presence:
Frequent event speaker, host, guest, author - Columbia Business School, OPAL, Buyouts Insider, ACG, FamilyBusiness.org, IBERA, Family Business Center, Unibz Business School, Inštitút Rodinného Businessu

Additional roles and positions:
RAS Capital Partners (2002) - founder 
Wisdom Board (2020) - founder 
Caring Capitalism (2020) - founder 
Bain & Co (2020) - advisor 

Philanthropist: (education, art, music, cancer)
Co-Founder, Leukemia Fighters. 
Board member, Musicians Treatment Foundation.  
Founding advisor, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. 

Happily married w/ three children.

Founder

A multi-faceted holding platform for providing strategic counsel to select private companies, family offices, and direct investments.

www.rascapitalpartners.com

Through various partnerships, we have provided clients with unique, valuable, holistic, actionable counsel across the capital structure, direct investments, strategy, governance, and mergers and acquisitions.  

Over the years, I have gained extensive experience in corporate strategy, board governance, and all matters related to doing deals - sourcing, assessment, diligence, team building, negotiations, financing, syndication, documentation and governance. 

For over 20 years, clients, boards, investors, and partners have tapped our resources to enhance their corporate journeys through leveraging our unique experience, judgment and robust network across a wide range of corporate conditions, financing challenges, and industry segments. 

Extensive experiences across both principal and consulting roles - in the process, strengthening our relationships, raising hundreds of millions for their companies, building boards, enhancing strategic planning, and empowering corporate development success. 

Work closely with highly seasoned third-party vendor relations (lawyers, bankers, investors, financiers, private bankers, agencies, and boards). 

Innovative, thoughtful, solutions-based thinking. 

——-

Note: 

RAS Capital Partners does not have external investors.The firm has operated mostly buyside principal projects (or on the sell-side, retainer-based activities with clients or partners). 

Capital raising projects may be executed via third-party qualified platforms unaffiliated with RAS Capital Partners.

The firm does not make direct investments itself at this time; rather, in collaboration with sophisticated limited partners and general partners.   

🌍 LinkedIn Live — Family Business Audiocast  
Intelligent Enterprises: AI, Sustainability & the Future of Family Firms

I’m hosting episode 56 exploring one of the most important frontiers in family enterprise:

💫 AI, big data, sustainability, identity, and the emergence of the “intelligent” family firm.

🎙️ This episode features a leading scholar who is redefining how we understand family enterprises at a global level — integrating AI, supercomputing, qualitative fieldwork, governance research, and next-generation development into one unified lens.

——— 

🎧 Episode Focus

Intelligent Enterprises: AI, Sustainability, and the Future of Family Firms

We’ll explore:
• How AI, big data, and supercomputing are reshaping family-firm research
• Why family enterprises require multi-paradigmatic methods: data + human insight
• The “Intelligent Enterprise” theory — how firms perceive, adapt, and evolve
• Satellite-validated sustainability models + leadership psychology
• Identity, gender, succession, cosmopolitan leadership
• Global patterns shaping next-generation stewardship
• The future of sustainable, tech-enabled family capitalism

———

🌟 About Our Guest — Dr. Jan-Philipp Ahrens 
 
Dr. Ahrens is one of the most innovative researchers at the intersection of family firms, AI, sustainability, and human dynamics.

He serves as Senior Researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Group Family Firms (IRG-FF) at University of Mannheim  

His work is widely published (ETP, JMS, JFBS) and he is Senior Editor at the Journal of Family Business Strategy.

He has advised German federal ministries, collaborated with global family enterprises, and speaks on AI, sustainability, gender equality, crisis leadership, and governance.

———

🏛 About IRG-FF — University of Mannheim

IRG-FF is one of the world’s most advanced research groups dedicated to family enterprises, integrating:

• AI, data science & supercomputing
• Qualitative fieldwork and lived-experience analysis
• Leadership & identity psychology
• Governance, culture, and sustainability research

———

📅 Event Details

Date: Monday, December 1, 2025
Time: 12pm EST | 11am CST | 10am MST | 9am PST

📍 Watch here

🔗 LinkedIn Live:  https://lnkd.in/ePcxQgJG

🔗 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eYsdGAKh

🔗 X: https://lnkd.in/erTYN7Qb

———

About the Series

Founded in 2022, Family Business Audiocast brings global leaders from the family-office, family-firm, and family-enterprise ecosystem into deep conversations about innovation, governance, stewardship, identity, and legacy.

———

Produced & Created by R. Adam Smith

#familybusiness #familyoffice #AI #bigdata #sustainability #nextgen #leadership #succession #intelligententerprise #governance #familyenterprises #research #supercomputing #globalleadership #futureoffamilyfirms #audiocast #fba Mirna Yang Andrew Milad

Empowering private companies and their owners - capital, investment banking, boards, strategy - since 1993. 

Salomon Brothers. Head, M&A and global family offices. Advisory board founder and lead member. (Salomon Brothers Strategic Advisors)

Veteran in private capital, M&A and investment banking, corporate development, strategy, governance.  Proud and active alumni of Columbia Business School.  

Formerly with Lehman Brothers, Caxton-Iseman Capital, Castle Harlan Inc. Expert in investment banking, M&A, capital markets, and alternative investments. 

Proven change agent:
Backer of tens of founders, CEOs, family offices, operating partners; mentor to many entrepreneurs. Since ‘02, founder of three successful management firms - Circle Peak Capital LLC, Big Sky Partners LLC, Family Office Private Advisors LLC. Investor in, buyer of, advisor to, tens of companies in consumer brands, digital, e-commerce, and financial services.

Governance expert: 
Board member / advisor to 12 investor-backed private companies since ‘98. Chairman of several. Board member of several non-profit entities since 2002, including founder or founding board member of three.  

Founder, Wisdom Board Inc. 

Veteran investor:
Privileged to serve in lead roles in 20 + principal investments across several investment platforms - partnerships I have been a part of (or founded). Since 2002, we led deals, collectively, involving over $300M of private equity, @ a billion of total capital, and $2B+ in sales.  

Founder, 2002, Circle Peak Capital - LBOs w/ entrepreneurs; invest w/ private equity and family offices.  Control investments. Sourced, negotiated, structured, financed, closed 9 control-stake buyouts - our backers included sophisticated general partners, hedge funds, + family offices, PE funds, and sophisticated investors.

Corporate Development expert:
Expert in capital, strategic ideas,
business development, valuations, analysis, planning, budgeting, governance metrics, board reporting. 

Philanthropist: (education, art, music, cancer, entrepreneurs) 
Co-Founder, Leukemia Fighters. 
Board member, Musicians Treatment Foundation.  
Founding advisor, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. 

Media presence:
Frequent conference speaker, host, sponsor - Columbia Business School, Buyouts Insider, ACG, iGlobal. Active contributor on Linkedin. 

Previously or recently involved in the following:
Wisdom Board (2020) - founder 
Caring Capitalism (2020) - founder 
Bain & Company (2020) - advisor 
RAS Capital Partners (2002) - founder 

Happily married w/ three children.

Global family office expert | Family Enterprise Holdings | RAS Capital Partners | Krown Impact | LinkedIn 1% | SFOs MFOs | 10x BOD | led $1B directs | Author, Speaker, Podcast | Columbia Business School

🎙️ Family Business Audiocast — Episode 55

This episode explores one of the most sophisticated intersections of finance, culture, and global family wealth —
Art as Capital: Unlocking Liquidity and Legacy in the Global Art Market.

💫 I’m joined by Suzanne Gyorgy, Partner at Emigrant Bank Fine Art, and one of the world’s leading experts on art finance, art advisory, and the role of collections in family legacy and wealth planning.

⸻

🌟 About Our Guest

✔️ Global authority at the intersection of art, finance, and family wealth. Suzanne brings 35+ years advising collectors, families, and institutions on building, financing, and managing art collections.

✔️ Before joining Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance in 2023, she was Managing Director & Global Head of Citi Private Bank Art Advisory & Finance, leading a global team serving some of the world’s most significant collectors.

✔️ Her career spans museum leadership, galleries, and private banking — from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to UBS and Citi — making her one of the true pioneers of modern art finance.

✔️ Frequent commentator globally 

⸻

🏦 About Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance

Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance (EBFAF), part of Emigrant Bank — America’s oldest privately held bank — provides three core services to collectors and families worldwide:
	1.	Art Finance — Term loans & credit lines from $1M to $100M+, unlocking liquidity without selling.
	2.	Art Advisory — Independent guidance on building and managing collections across Old Masters → Contemporary.
	3.	Appraisals — Qualified U.S. appraisals for taxation, estate planning, and insurance.

⸻

🎧 Listen here: 

https://lnkd.in/erb-yyXJ

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pandora | iHeart | web

⸻

ℹ️ About the Family Business Audiocast

Founded in 2022, the Family Business Audiocast features leading voices from the family office, family firm, and family enterprise ecosystem — exploring how families manage wealth, governance, succession, and legacy in a rapidly changing world.

Family business is more than business — it’s a living system where family, capital, culture, and purpose intersect.

Conceived, Produced, Owned by R. Adam Smith, Founder, Family Business Audiocast & Family Business Chronicle

⸻

🕊️ Opinions shared are personal and do not represent the official views of any organization, guest, or affiliate.

⸻

#familyoffice #familybusiness #artfinance #collectors #legacy #wealthmanagement #succession #privatebanking #familyenterprises #governance #artmarket #fineart #audiocast #FBA Andrew Milad Mirna Yang  The Museum of Modern Art Ann Priftis  

⸻

Awarded Scientist, Dr. habil. (HDR) 🦉 Cosmopolitan 🌎 PhD-Supervisor🐥 Editor🎭 FT50 & 4-star author🦁 Fam-Biz Expert & Speaker🍸 “What you wish to kindle in others - must first burn inside yourself”🔥

When u enter rooms you thought you’d never be in: From Stanford University 🌅 to New York 🗽 Major research article publication & U.S. show alert 🐥🎬  

⚡In my time at Stanford we created a theory on “intelligent firms”. It’s a superhot topic, as the business world integrates AI systems into its networks. It is now aired in a New York show on PE, VC, banking & family firms - the Nr.1 cast on this globally – hosted by Adam Smith (Salomon Brothers & more). It’s a true honor. Prior speakers include Stanford & Harvard professors, & thought leaders in our discipline (Kimberly Eddleston, Emanuela Rondi, Alfredo De Massis, Luis R. Gomez-Mejia, etc.).

💡Experiences like this remind me: When u think it doesn’t get better, there’s always the next magical room where your journey takes you, glowing softly with possibility, inviting you to keep moving, keep growing. Guard your spark, follow the motion. That’s why places like Silicon Valley, New York, Dubai are so magnetic – they radiate this, it’s pure cosmopolitan fuel for ambition 🗽 

Thank you Adam for inviting me.

Jan

🟧 P.S.: We have the UN Orange Weeks. Wherever u are: Wear an orange item as a statement: for ending violence against women. My next post'll be on that – so, have your orange gear ready 🟧 
 
📸 Pictures: Sneak peak on the forthcoming publication on the “intelligent firm” & sustainability, Stanford, & of course art: orange wear & the firm as an intelligent entity.

🦉 More on the forthcoming article on intelligent firms & AI: https://lnkd.in/e65HKnys by Melania Riefolo, Sina Grosskopf and me.

---===---

📅 Event Details
 
 Date: Monday, December 1, 2025
 Time: 12pm EST | 11am CST | 10am MST | 9am PST
 
 📍 Watch here
 
 🔗 LinkedIn Live: https://lnkd.in/ePcxQgJG , also on X and YouTube.
 
University of Mannheim Business School - Fakultät BWL Torsten Pieper Fabian Bernhard Liane Weitert Mannheim Business School #AI #IntelligentFirms #FamilyFirms #Leadership #Banking #PE #MA #NewYork

Global Family Business & Family Office Expert | Strategy & Leadership Advisor | CEO Mentor | INSEAD | McKinsey & Company | Harvard | Author | Speaker & Educator | Next Generation Mentor |

Discipline & consistency are boring. But together, they build everything that matters in business and leadership.

Agree?

Be Bold. Be Daring. Be Different!


#leadership #success #growth

🌐 New from Family Business Chronicle:

As family enterprises navigate rising complexity and multi-entity governance, one reality is becoming unmistakable: control is no longer protected by ownership alone— it is protected by liquidity.

Our latest issue examines how disciplined liquidity management has become the quiet engine behind long-term family stability. Rather than responding to market cycles, families are using liquidity to consolidate ownership, buy out misaligned minority shareholders, and simplify capital structures. The result is clearer governance and a more resilient foundation for generational transition.

Featuring the story of the Crawford family’s multi-stage liquidity strategy, this issue shows how families can recentralize control and modernize governance during shifting financing conditions—without relying on forecasts or short-term timing.

🔗 Read the full newsletter below.

🌍In Newsletter #59, we turn our attention to the quiet force that shapes the long-term destiny of family enterprises — liquidity.

Not the liquidity that traders chase, nor the market cycles economists debate, but the kind that determines who holds power, how decisions are made, and whether a family can maintain control across generations.

Across New York, Singapore, Dubai, and Santiago, family enterprises are learning the same lesson: “liquidity is governance.” It decides whether families can buy back minority shareholders, unwind old structures, resolve generational tension, and invest with conviction rather than caution.

In this edition, we explore how disciplined liquidity management is becoming one of the most defining and least understood levers of long-term family control.

📄Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gsqhDCyJ 

✨Follow the Family Business Chronicle on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eVk38eVW

✨Follow the Family Business Audiocast on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g7w-HPiB

📘Read the full newsletter below.

R. Adam Smith Mirna Yang

#familybusinessaudiocast
#familybusinesschronicle

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