Our Senior Management Team
Founder & CEO
Jason Ader is the Co-Founder and CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management LLC – a New York based SEC-registered buyout firm and independent sponsor leading corporate turnarounds, with a particular focus on the Real Estate, Gaming and Lodging sectors. Ader has been involved in turning around companies in the gaming and hospitality industry for many years, including high-profile successes with Las Vegas Sands Corp – where he served as an independent director from 2009-2016 – IGT, Bwin, Stars Group, and, most recently, Playtech.
Prior to founding SpringOwl, Ader served as Founder and CEO at Ader Investment Management LLC, as well as Co-Founder and CEO of Hayground Cove Asset Management. Before branching out on his own, Ader served as a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns where he was recognized by Institutional Investor as the top ranked Casinos, Gaming, and Lodging analyst on the Street for 10 consecutive years.
Ader earned his MBA in Finance from New York University and a BA in Economics from New York University.
Co-Founder & Partner
Andrew Wallach is a partner and senior analyst at SpringOwl. Prior to joining SpringOwl, Wallach was CEO and Managing Member of SpringOwl Associates LLC (formerly known as Cumberland Associates LLC). He began his Wall Street career as a nationally ranked research analyst following the communications industry at PaineWebber, and then at Drexel Burnham Lambert. He joined Cumberland in 1990, and became a partner in 1994. In 1997, he co-led a buyout of the firm and became a member of the management committee. After co-managing the firm for fourteen years, he co-led a second buyout in 2010, becoming CEO and CIO in January 2011.
Wallach earned his BA in Economics and Political Science from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is on the Board of the Yale Alumni Fund and is co-chairman of the Yale Alumni Fund Leadership Gifts Committee.
Co-Founder & Director
Barry Konig is a director and analyst at SpringOwl. Prior to co-founding SpringOwl, Konig was a member of SpringOwl Associates LLC (formerly known as Cumberland Associates LLC). He began his affiliation with SOA in 1998, became a full-time employee in 2001 and a member in 2005. Prior to joining SOA, he was a bank officer in the leveraged buyout groups at Chemical Bank, Citibank and First Chicago, as well as in the loan workout area at Marine Midland Bank.
Konig has a BA from the University of Maryland and an MBA in Finance from Washington University. He serves on the Board and is a member of the Investment Committee of Selfhelp Community Services.
Chief Financial Officer
John Lewis is the CFO at SpringOwl Asset Management LLC. He spent the past 22 years in the hedge fund industry as a CFO and controller, including a combined 17 years at SpringOwl Associates LLC (formerly known as Cumberland Associates LLC) and three years at Ardea Capital Management LP, a start-up hedge fund. Prior to that, he was assistant controller at a mid-sized retail/wholesale corporation with 17 stores.
Lewis has a BA in accounting from The State University of New York at Oswego. He is also a New York State Certified Public Accountant and member of the AICPA.
Chief Administrative Officer & Chief of Staff
Melissa Gannon is the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff at SpringOwl. Gannon has over two decades of working alongside high profile CEO’s and Founders, partnering with them to grow and scale several private and public investment firms. Prior to her role at SpringOwl, Gannon worked alongside key leaders at Two Sigma, MCR Investors, Highbridge Principal Strategies, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. Gannon began her career in Chicago with the Pritzker Family Development team at Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
Gannon holds a BA in Communications and French from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.