Stephen E. Adamson

Managing Partner, Los Angeles

Mr. Adamson has specialized in private equity since 1984. Prior to joining Celerity in 1995, Mr. Adamson took a lead role in 15 management buyouts totaling $3.6 billion in transaction value, working in New York at E.F. Hutton and Shearson Lehman Brothers, where he executed M&A transactions using the firm’s capital. In 1988, Mr. Adamson moved to California and resumed his focus on middle market private equity investing, first with Integrated Resources and later with KD Equities. Mr. Adamson holds an A.B. with honors in Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Adamson serves as a director of several private companies.

 

Mark R. Benham

Managing Partner, Menlo Park

Prior to founding Celerity in 1995, Mark worked for Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd. in New York. He holds a B.A from the University of California, Berkeley, and MBA from the University of Chicago with Honors, and completed all requirements but the dissertation for a PhD in English Literature from Stanford before his father, a farmer for 35 years from Bakersfield, convinced him that a career in academia was incompatible with the cash requirements of his lifestyle. Mark is currently a director of Trigamina Inc., Synteract Holdings, eStudy Site, Meridien Research, Pinnacle Treatment, NRI and AAHI.

 

Clifford A. Lyon

CFO and Administrative Partner, Los Angeles

Mr. Lyon joined Celerity Partners in September 2000 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Celerity, Mr. Lyon was CFO of Fotoball USA and Director of Finance of RemedyTemp, Inc., both publicly traded corporations. Mr. Lyon previously was employed at The Walt Disney Company and with the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Lyon is a CPA, holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Lyon serves as a director of several private companies.

 

Matthew R. Kraus

Partner, Los Angeles

Prior to joining Celerity, Mr. Kraus was a Managing Director and Founder of Harvey & Company, a merchant bank based in Irvine, CA. While at Harvey & Company, he conceived, developed and executed numerous acquisition strategies. Previously, Mr. Kraus was an analyst at W.E. Myers & Company, a merchant bank. Mr. Kraus received a B.A. in Political Science from Bucknell University. He is a director of several private companies.