Navab’s Former Team Picks Up the Pieces

Here is where members of the star team put together by Alex Navab have ended up after the fund’s closure.

Alexander Navab (Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg)

Alexander Navab

(Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg)

The launch of Navab Capital earlier this year was one of the most buzzed-about private equity debuts in recent memory.

It was, in no small part, thanks to the team Alex Navab had pulled together to raise $3 billion for the new private equity fund. But after Navab’s unexpected death, the firm opted to wind down.

While in August, Blackstone announced that it had hired former Navab partner Ram Jagannath, it was unclear where his peers had ended up. But recently, Navab’s team members have begun updating their LinkedIn profiles, indicating they have taken high-profile new jobs.

Jawad Hasan, who had been tapped by Navab to serve as principal at the firm, was hired by private equity giant TPG Capital to invest in healthcare, his LinkedIn profile shows. Prior to joining Navab, Hasan served as a principal at venture and private equity firm Apax Partners. Hasan declined to comment on the move.

Meanwhile, Sunny Patel, who had also been hired as principal for Navab after working at Kraft Heinz, has landed at HighPost Capital, where he is working as a managing director. HighPost, according to a filing with the New York Department of State, was launched in September of this year. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Christian Diez, who was set to head up finance and accounting at Navab, has been hired as senior vice president and head of finance and fund operations at Sightway Capital, Two Sigma’s new private equity arm. Prior to joining Navab, he was a principal at Corsair Capital, his LinkedIn profile shows. He did not respond to a message seeking comment.

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The two former KKR employees Navab brought on to join him have also found their way to new firms.

Bhavna Vashisht Katkar, whom Navab hired to serve as chief administrative officer, chief human resources officer, and chief of staff, is now working at private equity firm BC Partners as chief human capital officer and head of strategic initiatives, her LinkedIn profile shows. She did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Meanwhile, Michael Gaviser, whom Navab brought over from KKR to work as a managing director at the firm, is now working at investment firm Mantle Ridge. He did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The fate of some of Navab’s other hires remains unclear. Robert Berlin, who had been hired from Baupost; Annette Rodriguez, who was hired from Warburg Pincus; and Mark Schroeder, who came in from Deloitte, still have not shared updates on their next moves.

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