Kenin M. Spivak is a highly regarded executive, entrepreneur, financier, author and attorney known for innovative leadership, sophisticated deal-making, understanding of financial markets and institutions, marketing expertise and “hands on” management. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of SMI Group LLC and chairman of its operating units.
Mr. Spivak has led multi-national companies with billions of dollars of worldwide sales and operations in more than 30 countries, including serving as CEO of a NewsCorporation affiliate, a wireless technology company and an investment banking firm, principal operating officer of major studio MGM/UA, founding chairman of the Paul Mitchell cosmetology schools and an officer and director of Merrill Lynch media and entertainment partnerships.
Mr. Spivak led, structured, negotiated and closed more than $10 billion of complex transactions, (more than $20 billion in current dollars), including acquisitions, dispositions, combinations, divestitures, financings, restructurings, licensing and other ventures. He led the development, financing, production, marketing and distribution of hundreds of feature films and television series grossing more than $3 billion ($7 billion in current dollars) and the branding, marketing and sales of consumer products and services grossing many additional billions of dollars. He has selected and distributed Academy Award®-winning films and long-running television series and launched successful consumer brands and pioneering technologies.
Mr. Spivak is founder and chairman of SMI Entertainment, which owns interests in the entertainment sector, including a film library distributed by ViacomCBS; chairman of a U.S.-based biofuels trading and refining company, with operations in the UAE, India and Indonesia; co-founder and chairman of a Peruvian company that is building a portfolio of gold and copper mining and processing operations; co-founder and advisor to a group of affiliated public and private companies that engage in range of sports and esports activities focused on Southeast Asia; and senior advisor to an innovative finance group, and companies engaged in developing and licensing IP and technology.
Mr. Spivak has served as chairman, vice chairman, president, CEO, director and senior advisor for public and private companies in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East, primarily in advertising, banking, consumer products, education, energy, entertainment, financial services, food products, franchising, gaming, health and beauty, marketing, media, real estate and technology. He also has served as chairman of special litigation committees, testified as an expert on corporate governance and directed complex litigation. He was the longest-serving director of the prestigious RAND Corporation Center for Corporate Ethics and Governance.
After starting his career as an attorney in Beverly Hills and New York, Mr. Spivak was named the senior officer for business affairs, marketing and distribution for Mobil Oil’s LCA/Highgate Pictures, then the leading New York-based network television production/distribution company. Mr. Spivak negotiated the sale of LCA/Highgate to New World Communications and then joined Merrill Lynch investment banking, where he specialized in mergers, acquisitions, complex financings and leveraged buy-outs. Mr. Spivak also served as an officer of investment and operating partnerships established by Merrill Lynch, including partnerships that financed feature films and acquired and operated broadcast stations and cable systems.
Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian recruited Mr. Spivak from Merrill Lynch to revitalize major studio MGM/UA Communications. Mr. Spivak took MGM/UA to record worldwide revenues before selling it for nearly $2 billion ($4.1 billion in current dollars). Revered entrepreneur Chris Blackwell then named Mr. Spivak the managing director of his troubled film and television company, Island World. Mr. Spivak restored the company to profitability, created acclaimed films and television series, and secured financing and distribution, before selling Island World for a considerable increase in value.
Renown financier Michael Milken then recruited Mr. Spivak to develop media opportunities. To do so, Mr. Spivak co-founded and was CEO of Archon Communications. Mr. Spivak brought in Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorporation as an investor, acquired control of media companies, including industry-leader Premiere Radio Networks, and guided the portfolio to success. As chairman of the Premiere Radio Networks executive committee, Spivak invigorated the company and then sold both Archon and Premiere to Jacor for a considerable profit. He next served as chairman of the independent directors’ committee of Metro Traffic Networks, the global leader in traffic and news reporting and directed that company’s sale to Viacom for $1.9 billion ($3.3 billion in current dollars).
Mr. Spivak also served as chairman or vice chairman of leading independent film and television production and distribution companies; produced theatrical motion pictures released by 20th Century Fox and animated DVD’s for children; produced and hosted radio and television public affairs and talk series in New York City; and acquired, led and sold publishers Phoenix New Millennium and Knowledge Exchange. He wrote the thriller, The Karasik Conspiracy, served as chairman of the editorial board for The Knowledge Exchange Business Encyclopedia, distributed by Warner Books, and contributed to Larry King’s Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, a compendium of essays on the justice system.
In gaming, Mr. Spivak co-founded, developed, served as co-managing partner and later sold the Philippines Dream casino in Cebu to a Hong Kong leisure company, advised Silicon Gaming which introduced the first digital slot machines and was instrumental in planning for the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
In marketing and consumer brands, Mr. Spivak acquired control of and led digital advertising agency, Snowball Media for clients such as Toyota, Wells Fargo, Southern California Edison and Sanyo; retail advertising agency Aquarius Promotions, with 30,000 supermarket-clients; and nutraceuticals pioneer Golden Era Beverages, taking the company from concept to distribution in 12 states and then selling the company for a substantial gain to private-equity firm Charterhouse Group. He was the long-time vice chairman of global hair care leader John Paul Mitchell Systems, founding chairman of the Paul Mitchell cosmetology schools which he helped build into the largest chain of cosmetology schools in the United States; and a director of the JDC S.A. (Seagrams/Patrón Tequila joint venture).
In technology, Mr. Spivak acquired a controlling interest in, and for more than a decade served as chairman and CEO of, Telemac Corporation, the pioneer in developing and commercializing network-edge real-time service control, accounting, billing and payment processing technologies for the wireless industry. Mr. Spivak led Telemac from losses, three patents, one licensed mobile phone and 25,000 analog customers in the United States, to more than 30 million digital customers worldwide; 212 patents and patents-pending in 41 countries; offices in the USA, China and UK; wireless operators on six continents, including China Unicom, Cingular (now AT&T), Nextel, TracFone, O2, Sprint PCS, Telcel, and Vodacom; five of the six top mobile phone manufacturers; and three of the top four SIM manufacturers. Mr. Spivak then sold Telemac to one of its largest licensees.
At the request of former U.S. Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, Mr. Spivak served as a special director and member of the executive committee of Western Federal Savings & Loan, a California-based $4 billion bank, helping to guide it through a nationwide banking crisis. He also served as vice chairman of NYSE-listed metals trading company, Diversified Industries Inc., vice-chairman of a publicly-traded health care company, and chairman of the special committee of Alacer Corporation, the maker of Emergen-C.
Mr. Spivak was a member of the executive committee of the Beijing International University Task Force, formed by Chinese government education agencies and a member of the Los Angeles Committee on Foreign Relations. He is listed in Who’s Who in the West, America, Finance & Business and the World and is a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Mr. Spivak received multiple patents for wireless technology inventions. His commentaries are regularly published by a range of leading online sites.
Mr. Spivak received an A.B., M.B.A. (marketing) and Juris Doctor from Columbia University, each with honors, completing all three degrees in six years. He is admitted to practice law in California, New York and U.S. federal courts and holds Series 22 (partnerships/direct participation programs), 24 (general securities principal), 63 (state law), 65 (investment advisor), 79 (investment banking) and 82 (private placements) U.S. securities licenses. Mr. Spivak is a U.S. citizen.