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Tom Lister was a Senior Partner and the Co-Manging Partner of the international private equity firm, Permira, based in London, New York and Menlo Park from 2008-2021. Permira has approximately 70 billion euros in capital. He retired from Permira at the end of 2022. From 2005-2008, he served as Head of Permira’s North American business starting the operation from scratch and making it the most productive region in the firm’s overall footprint.
During his time as Permira’s Co-Managing Partner, Mr. Lister served on its Investment Committee and Executive Committee and serves as the Fund Minder for the private equity funds P4-P7, responsible for all of the firm’s operating functions and protection of the interests of its Limited Partners. At Permira, Mr. Lister led a number of investments including, Genesys, Kroll, Cambrex, Freescale Semiconductor, Intelsat, Jet Aviation, NDS and Aearo Technologies and also had oversight of the firm’s direct lending/credit business Permira Debt Managers. Prior to joining Permira in 2005, he was a partner at Forstmann Little & Co, a leading US private equity firm from 1993-2005. Mr Lister was responsible for the firm’s technology and healthcare investing sectors and led investments in IMG Worldwide, Community Health Systems, Thompson Minwax, Ziff Davis Publishing and Capella Education, amongst others. He was also in charge of all fundraising activities at Forstmann Little during his tenure at the firm.
Since August 2022, Mr Lister has served as a Senior Adviser to Canada Pension Plan, the largest Canadian pension plan representing more than 25 million beneficiaries. As part of his role at CPP, he serves on the Investment Committee of the Direct Private Equity Business and as a Director of one of their portfolio companies, Asurion, which provides cell phone repair and warranty services to the largest international telecom carriers.
Mr. Lister has a number of not-for-profit responsibilities and interests primarily in New York. He has served as the Co-Chair of the Hospital for Special Surgery (“HSS”) since 2017. HSS is the #1 ranked orthopaedic hospital in the US with 12 locations in the New York area and a growing operation in South Florida focused on Palm Beach and Naples. Mr Lister Chairs the Compensation and Executive Committees and serves on the Audit, Governance and Development Committees. He was first elected to the Board in 2011 and served as a Vice Chair until he was elected Co-Chair. He also serves on the Board and audit, investment and governance committees at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, a nationally recognized scientific research laboratory based on Long Island, NY. He has served on the Trinity Board of Visitors at Duke University since 2015.
In 1986, Mr. Lister graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a dual degree in chemistry and political science from Duke University. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1991 where he was named a George F. Baker Scholar and a John Loeb fellow in Finance. He currently serves on the Board and as Greens Chair at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset NY. Tom is an avid golfer and loves golf architecture and restoration Tom and his wife, Amanda (Duke 1987), live in New York City and have a 23-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter.
July 2023