Stephen Benson is the Chief Financial Officer of Simple Innovations.  Stephen has extensive relationships with the corporate investor community. He also has extensive experience in corporate strategy, finance and has helped firms accelerate revenues. Prior to joining Simple innovations, he was a co-founder and general partner of Cyrene Holdings, a partnership with Saudi Aramco with initial seed capital approaching $1 billion dollars. Previously, Stephen was an equity partner at Perlmutter Real Estate Partners, a commercial real estate investor with the $60 billion Verizon Investment Management (VIMCO) pension fund.

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Stephen has a stellar track record as a professional with a rich experience in the financial services space.

•         He was the Chairman of Seegal Benson Leucadia Partners, a public operating, manufacturing and investment company that owns Jefferies Group, Inc.

•         He founded the Stephens Financial Group, an M&A advisory and private equity partnership with the Stephens Family Office of Little Rock, Arkansas.

•         He was the Head of Corporate Finance and Vice Chairman at Wasserstein Perella & Co.

•         He was the Head of the Investment Bank and Equity Capital Markets & Syndicate Departments at Salomon Brothers.

•         He was an advisor to Northrop Grumman for the $20 billion hostile acquisition of TRW Inc., an aerospace technology manufacturer , and the related follow-on $6 billion divestiture of TRW Automotive to Blackstone Group.

•         He also executed transactions for Blackstone Group, Clayton Dubilier, Boeing, Delphi, DuPont, GE, among others.

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