LONDON | NEW YORK | July 6, 2021 – Global Tech Investment Bank Drake Star Partners announced today that Michel Taride and Mark Joseph have joined the firm as Partner and Senior Advisor, respectively.

Michel Taride has 38 years of operating experience at a global level in the Automotive, Smart Mobility, and Travel industries. Michel is the former Group President of Hertz International, the leading global car rental brand, where he was responsible for its operations in 150 countries across all continents, outside North America. Most recently, Michel was working closely with start-ups and incubators to accelerate the transformation of the business. Since he moved on from Hertz, Michel has built a portfolio of Advisory and Board roles, including with SPACs, in Travel and Mobility. Michel initially joined Drake Star Partners as Senior Advisor in 2019. As Partner, he will further strengthen the Travel and Mobility vertical, together with the Partners and Senior Advisors, at a time when the industry is going through an unprecedented evolution.

Mark Joseph has over 30 years of leadership experience in public and private transportation across the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, and South America. Mark spent more than 15 years, including Chief Development Officer (20 countries) and CEO North America at giant public transport companies Transdev and CEO at Veolia Transport. Mark has strong relationships across the U.S. with local and national political and transportation leaders, as well as labor and community leaders. Mark is also on the board of multiple mobility thought-leader growths and unicorn firms.

Commenting on Mark Joseph’s and Michel Taride’s appointment, Marc Deschamps, Executive Chairman of Drake Star Partners, said: “Drake Star has become the prominent investment bank in the travel and mobility sector in the last few years. Michel and Mark joining the team is a testament to further develop our leadership in the quite various domains of the sector, including EV tech/infrastructures but also Hydrogen, new business models of car ownership, digital transformation, connectivity, AI, and smart cities. Michel and Mark are a perfect addition to our team, bringing a distinct lens to viewing the mobility space and the opportunities inherent to the sector’s evolution.”

Michel Taride added: “I am honoured to be joining Drake Star as a Partner. Over the last couple of years as Senior Advisor, I have been able to appreciate the high quality of the team, the great values as well as the impressive performance of the firm. It’s a fantastic time to be joining as the mobility space is rapidly transforming.”

Mark Joseph added: “I am very much looking forward to working with this outstanding team of professionals to support Drake Stars client’s endeavours and their continuous success.”

Greg Bedrosian, CEO and Managing Partner at Drake Star commented: “We are delighted to welcome Michel and Mark to Drake Star Partners. 2020-21 were the “great accelerators” for sectors like Mobility, with an increase of M&A and corporate finance deal activity. Michel’s and Mark’s expertise and experience will be highly valuable to bolster the growth and development of Drake Star’s coverage of Mobility in the US and Europe.”

Inquiries

For further inquiries, please contact;

Gregory Bedrosian
CEO 
gregory.bedrosian@drakestar.com

Michel Taride
Partner
michel.taride@drakestar.com 

Mark Joseph
Senior Advisor
mark.joseph@drakestar.com