Alexander Knaster
Alexander Knaster is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Pamplona Capital Management, a global investment firm with operations in private equity, hedge funds, and fund-of-funds. With over 30 years of experience in investment banking, Knaster previously served as CEO of Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private commercial bank. His extensive career includes senior leadership roles at Simmons & Co., Bankers Trust, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, and Credit Suisse First Boston, with experience spanning major financial hubs such as Houston, New York, Moscow, and London. Beyond finance, Knaster is a dedicated philanthropist, with a strong commitment to cancer research and education initiatives.
Alexander Knaster Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Founder, Chairman and CEO
Academic History
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Master of Business Administration
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B.S., Electrical Engineering and Mathematics
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Owner, Pisa Football Club
Co-Founder, Genesis Philanthropy Group
Board of Trustee, New York University
Executive Fellow, London Business School
Member of the Board of Dean's Advisors, Harvard Business School
President's Council, Carnegie Mellon University
EARLY CAREER
Knaster worked at several investment banks in the U.S. before moving to Russia in 1995 where he became the CEO of the Russian branch of Credit Suisse First Boston.
Under his leadership, Alfa Bank grew ten-fold into Russia's largest privately-owned bank.
He served as General Director of Sidanco, Russia's seventh largest oil company, and was President and CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston, responsible for the firm's operations in Russia and the CIS.
He started his career as an Engineer with Schlumberger, working on their oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
PHILANTHROPY
Knaster is an active philanthropist who has made significant contributions to different academic institutions and healthcare initiatives.
In 2007, he and other Russian Jewish billionaires formed the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a foundation that promotes Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.
He created the Alexander M. Knaster Scholarship Fund to aid full-time undergraduate students in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; he also endowed the chair of the mathematics department at Carnegie Mellon.
He is Founder of The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, which funds translational cancer research focused on transforming the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.