Draft:Les Brown

Les Brown is an American private equity partner and investor. He is widely known as the founding member and partner at HGGC (formerly Huntsman Gay Global Capital).

Early life and education
Brown attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1982, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in 1989. Later, Brown pursued a Master of Accountancy degree at BYU, graduating in 1990.

Career
After completing his master's degree in 1990, Brown started his career as a senior accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a multinational company that provides business advisory services. After working there for five years, Brown joined Nutraceutical Corporation as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 1995.

From 2017 to 2018, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Neways International. From 2011 to 2017, Brown served on the board of directors of Hybris Software (2011-2013), Serena Software (2014-2016), and Survey Sampling International (2014-2017). Since 2017, he has also served as the chairman of the board of directors of The Better Being Co. (formerly known as Nutraceutical Corporation).

Brown is a founding member of HGGC and has served there since its inception. He has held key positions, including Chief Financial Officer (2007-2014), Chief Operating Officer (2007-2018), and Global Head of Investor Relations (2016-2018 and 2020-2023).

During his tenure at HGGC, Brown contributed to successful fundraising efforts for Fund III and Fund IV, exceeding their respective targets. Notably, Fund III closed at the hard cap in 99 days, while Fund IV raised $2.54 billion, surpassing its $2.25 billion target.