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Seth M. Siegel (born December 14, 1953) is an American businessman and communal activist. He has co-founded several successful businesses and has served in leadership roles in a variety of charitable organizations. He is known universally by his nickname, “Yossi.”

Early life and education
Siegel was born in New York City and attended public schools in Queens, New York. In 1974, he received a B.S. degree from Cornell University. Siegel then received a J.D. from the Cornell Law School in 1978. He also studied international relations as a graduate student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem from 1974-1975. Siegel was a recipient of a Wexner Fellowship from the Wexner Foundation from 1990-1993.

Career
In 1978, Siegel began his career as an assistant district attorney in New York City. Then, he worked as a litigation associate and criminal defense attorney with Frankfurt Garbus Klein and Selz (now Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz) from 1981 to 1983. In 1990, Siegel co-founded The Beanstalk Group, a trademark licensing and brand extensions agency. The company grew to be the world’s largest of its kind and was sold to Ford Motor Company in May 2001. In November 2005, Ford Motor Company sold Beanstalk to Omnicom and Siegel stepped down as co-CEO, a position he had held since the firm’s founding. While at Beanstalk and a predecessor company, Hamilton Projects, Siegel advised many Fortune 500 companies in the proper secondary use of their trademarks, trade dress and copyrights. These companies included AT&T, IBM, Apple, Harley-Davidson, Unilever, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Hershey Foods and Campbell Soup. He also served as an advisor to and licensing agent for cartoon producer Hanna-Barbera Productions for its many characters including The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo. In 2007, Siegel co-founded Sixpoint Partners, a boutique financial services firm. In that same year, he co-founded Vringo, now a public company (ticker symbol: VRNG) engaged in the innovation, development and monetization of mobile technologies and intellectual property. Siegel served as Chairman of the Board of Vringo until May 8, 2013. He now serves as the Vice Chairman of Sixpoint Partners. Siegel was also a Producer of the Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival of Man of La Mancha and an Associate Producer  of the Emmy Award-winning ABC-TV mini-series “Dinotopia".

Community Service and Charitable Work
Since beginning his career, Siegel has been involved in charitable work and communal service. He now sits on the Board of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Hillel organization at Cornell University , and the Heschel School in Manhattan. He has been on the Heschel School Board continuously since 1989. Siegel is now in his second term on the Cornell University Council and also sits on the Advisory Board of the ILR School at Cornell University. He was also the creator and primary funder of the ‘Building Community Through Literature’ reading project at P.S. 165 in Queens, New York that ran for nine years. In connection with Siegel’s elementary school education efforts, he appeared on The Today Show, where he was interviewed by Matt Lauer.

Writing and Lecturing
Siegel has lectured throughout the United States and has written articles, opinion pieces and criticism for many publications, including The New York Times  op-ed page and The Wall Street Journal. He was a regular columnist for Brandweek magazine, where he addressed a broad range of issues relating to marketing and pop culture. He has been quoted in such major print and electronic media outlets as The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek , The New York Times , the Financial Times (FT) , USA Today , CNN , CNBC , MSNBC , and Fox News. Siegel was a regular studio guest on CNBC and also made an appearance on the NBC Nightly News. He has also lectured as an adjunct professor at New York University, where he taught a course on licensing, and has moderated or served as a panelist on numerous occasions.

Awards and Honors
In 2010, Siegel was the recipient of the Jerome Alpern Award presented annually by the ILR School at Cornell University to an outstanding alumnus. He was also honored by the Heschel School for his leadership role there. In 2013, Siegel received the Tanner Prize, an honor awarded annually by the Cornell Hillel. He received a Tony Award nomination for the Broadway revival of Man of La Mancha. In addition, he received the Licensing Industry Merchandiser’s Association LIMA Award for Excellence nine times in connection with his work at Beanstalk. He also received two advertising industry Clio Awards for his work with corporate clients.

Personal Life
Siegel is married to Rachel Ringler. They have three children and live in Manhattan.