Alumnus Eli Wachtel Elected to Board of Trustees

Eli Wachtel (B.S. ’72), co-chief investment officer (CIO) and founding member of the hedge fund Wachtel Capital Advisors LLC, has been elected to New York Tech’s Board of Trustees. Wachtel had previously served on the board from 2005 to 2013.

“It is a delight to welcome back a trustee to the board,” said President Hank Foley, Ph.D. “Eli’s highly impressive accounting and investment career is an inspiration to our community. Moreover, his strategic mindset, business acumen, and dedication to ensuring student success will help contribute to our goal of becoming a robust academic and research university with strong ties to industry.”

Wachtel Capital Advisors LLC is a hedge fund primarily engaged in classical arbitrage and opportunistically seeking investments in the private capital markets. Until August 2008, he was a senior managing director and a member of the Board of Directors of Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. (BSC). During his 27 years with BSC, he created and managed various businesses, focusing his final four years on building the firm’s energy franchise. Under his leadership, the BSC Energy Division began with proprietary investments and trading. He expanded its activities in 2004 with the creation of Arroyo, a private equity arm, to purchase power generation assets. In 2005, he formed a joint venture with Calpine to exploit physical trading opportunities in power and natural gas, and in 2006, he formed Bear Energy, a full-fledged international energy operation.

Concurrent with his energy activities, he headed the firm’s Strategic Structuring and Transactions (SST) department, which was also a firmwide resource for new product development and structuring. Prior to joining BSC, Wachtel was the trading partner at Bedford Managing Partners.

“My New York Tech education has helped me throughout all of my career and contributed greatly to my success,” says Wachtel. “This university means a great deal to my family, as many are also New York Tech graduates. I look forward to adding my expertise and decades of experience to the Board of Trustees as we work together to support students across all disciplines for many years to come.”

Wachtel has been active on a variety of charitable boards, including New York Law School, where he was co-chairman of its investment committee. He also was honored with a Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) at New York Tech’s 62nd commencement and delivered the keynote address to the Class of 2023.

By Michael Schiavetta

By Libby Sullivan