Robert Schriesheim

Biography

Robert (“Rob”) Schriesheim is chairman of Truax Partners LLC and leads large, complex transformations in partnership with Boards, CEOs and institutional investors as an investor and director. He has served on 11 public boards ranging from under $1 billion in revenue to Fortune 500 and has served as CFO of 4 public companies varying in revenue from $1 billion to $40 billion in the software, communications, semiconductor, services, information technology, digital media, retail and REIT sectors. 

From 2019 to 2021 he served as chairman of the finance committee of telecom services provider Frontier Communications overseeing its transformation and chapter 11 reorganization to restructure $17.5 billion in debt which created $5 billion in value. In recognition of his leadership, the Frontier Communications chapter 11 Reorganization was named the 2021 Telecom Services Deal of The Year at the M&A Advisor 15^th Annual Turnaround Awards.  

Previously, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sears Holdings, joining the Fortune 60 company in 2011 and leaving in 2016 after overseeing a reengineering of its asset portfolio including a series of corporate spin-offs generating $9 billion in capital. Earlier, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Hewitt Associates, a publicly traded human resources consulting and outsourcing company, until its acquisition by Aon in 2010 for $5 billion. From 2006 to 2009, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and a board director of Lawson Software a publicly traded ERP software provider backed by PE firm Symphony Technology group until its acquisition by Golden Gate Capital/Infor in 2010 for $2 billion. Earlier, he was affiliated with ARCH Development Partners, LLC, a seed stage venture capital fund and previously held executive positions at Global TeleSystems, SBC Equity Partners, Ameritech, AC Nielsen, and Brooke Group Ltd. 

He is a director of publicly traded Houlihan Lokey (“HLI”) , a global investment bank, where he serves as the lead independent director and chairman of the audit committee; and of  Skyworks Solutions (“SWKS), an S&P 500 semiconductor company, serving on the audit and compensation committees. In addition, he is on the board of governors of the Winnetka Community House and serves as Treasurer. Previously, he was a director of numerous public companies including NII Holdings, formerly Nextel International (acquired by América Móvil S.A.B. de C.V.), Forest City Realty Trust (acquired by Brookfield Asset Management), MSC Software (acquired by Symphony Technology Group and Elliott Associates) and Dobson Communications (acquired by ATT). 

Mr. Schriesheim received an AB in Chemistry from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in business economics and finance. He resides in Winnetka, Illinois and Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Kris, of 35 years and has 4 adult children.

Academic Areas

• Finance