Mitchell Saranow

The Chairman and Founder of The Saranow Group, LLC, Mitchell Saranow began his professional career after earning his bachelor's degree in business administration from Northwestern University, graduating near the top of his class. Thereafter, Saranow earned his JD and MBA from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.

After completing his education, Saranow pursued a career in the legal and financial sectors. Initially, he served as an associate attorney with Mayer Brown & Platt, where he worked with teams that represented substantial clients such as United Airlines, General Electric, and Continental Bank. Afterwards, Saranow was a venture capital officer for the largest investment banking firm in Chicago; Warburg Paribus Becker, where he devoted a substantial portion of his effort to managing a $40 million venture fund devoted to originating investments in the cable television industry. For the latter half of the 1970s, Saranow served as Vice President of Finance and Law for the Sunmark Companies, a well-know confectionary and snack food manufacturer based in St. Louis.

Continuing his career in the food industry, in 1979, Saranow became Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of CFS Continental, a multi-billion dollar company and the nation's second largest full-service distributor. During his tenure as Vice President of Finance, he participated in 25 acquisitions and multiple financial transactions. Saranow remained with CFS Continental until shortly before it was sold to A.E. Staley, at which time he decided to seek new challenges.

In 1983, he founded The Saranow Group, LLC, an independent financial advisory organization. The firm worked with such high-profile clients as the former Secretary of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Chairman, G.W. Miller; the well-known international holding company, TAG, which is owned by a very substantial Saudi Arabian family; as well as Kaempfer and Western Development, two leading Washington real estate development firms. Since its inception, Saranow's firm has founded a number of successful businesses, including one of the nation's largest "private" cable TV companies and several color preparation equipment manufacturers for paints, inks, and personal care products, including hair color.