Announcing the 3 Winners of the Great, Undiscovered CEOs Challenge

We are pleased to announce the Winners in the recently completed Great, Undiscovered CEOs Challenge. The initiative was designed to identify actionable investments led by unsung, but nevertheless outstanding management teams.

Winners from the list below will have in-person meetings arranged with the partnering fund's founders/senior management, representing a multi-billion dollar, New York City-based hedge fund. Winners will also receive cash prizes based on contest placement, and cash bonuses if the fund ultimately takes a position based on the research before February 28th, 2019.

Our sincere congratulations go out to the Winners below, and we wish them the best of luck in terms of presenting the ideas for inclusion into the firm's fund.

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Winners (ordered)

1st Place
Long on Iqvia Holdings Inc (IQV:US)
Thatcher Martin (Spree Capital)
"IQV is a compounder in a position to gain market share, tap latent pricing power, grow margins, and buyback stock."

IQV is a compounder led by an under the radar CEO with a long track record of creating significant shareholder value. Through a transformational merger between Quintiles and IMS Health, CEO Ari Bousbib has created a game changing company that is in the early stages of using the most extensive database in the healthcare industry to use information technology to create value across the healthcare value chain. Competitive advantages in data and data analytics put IQV in a position to gain market share, tap latent pricing power, grow margins, buyback stock, and make growth investments, which feed the flywheel of generating more data....

2nd Place
Long on J2 Global Inc (JCOM:US)
Alex Ryzhikov (Ewing Morris North American Small Cap Fund)
"Hitch your wagon to a management team with a remarkable track record of value creation and get paid for the ride."

We believe that current valuation of j2 Global business offers a rare opportunity to acquire an ownership in a business with an exceptional management team at a discount to its liquidation value. Should the market finally recognize management’s capital allocation and operational track records, we believe that the share price of the company is likely to more than double from current levels. However, even in the absence of a multiple re-rating, we expect 15% annualized returns from here over the next five years....

3rd Place
Long on Micron Technology Inc (MU:US)
Eric Gregg (Four Tree Island Advisory)
"Unheralded/Emerging Rock Star CEO - Sanjay Mehrotra - Micron"

While Sanjay Mehrotra has been a CEO now, between SanDisk and Micron, for 7+ years, I’ve never seen him listed as a top CEO. In Glass Door’s ranking of the Top 26 Tech CEO’s for 2018, there’s no mention of Sanjay. I’m going to make a case for why his omission and lack of recognition by the broader market is a meaningful oversight. I’ll principally focus on what he’s accomplished in his time at Micron, but finish off with what was ultimately accomplished at SanDisk. Before extolling Sanjay’s virtues and accomplishments that have been evidenced since joining Micron, a little background on the Company....

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Our sincere congratulations to the Winners. Our thanks goes out to our partners, and all those who participated in the initiative. Stay tuned for the next Challenge announcement shortly.