Michael S. Gross

Overview

Michael S. Gross became a director of the Company in January 1999, and was appointed as Lead Director of the Company in April 2006. Mr. Gross has been Co-Chairman of the investment committee and a Senior Partner of Magnetar Capital Partners LLC, a multi-strategy hedge fund firm, since July 2006. Prior to that, Mr. Gross was one of the founding partners in 1990 of Apollo Advisors, L.P., which, together with its affiliates acts as the managing general partner of several private securities funds. Mr. Gross also previously served as chief executive officer of Apollo Investment Corporation, a closed-end investment company of which he is a founder, from January 2004 to February 2006, and as president and chairman of the Board of Directors of Apollo Investment Corporation until July 2006. Mr. Gross is chairman of the Board of Directors of Marathon Acquisition Corp. and a director of Saks Incorporated and Jarden Corporation. He is also a founding member and serves on the Executive Committee of the Youth Renewal Fund, is the chairman of the Board of the Mt. Sinai Children's Center Foundation, serves as a trustee of the Trinity School and is a member of the corporate advisory board for the University of Michigan Business School.