Betsy Zubrow Cohen
| Betsy Zubrow Cohen | |
|---|---|
| File:Betsy Cohen headshot.jpgBetsy Cohen headshot.jpg | |
| Born | Betsy Zubrow |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Bryn Mawr College University of Pennsylvania Law School |
| 💼 Occupation | |
Betsy Z. Cohen (October 29, 1941)[1] is the Chairman of FinTech Masala, an organization that invests in growth-stage fintech companies through special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and venture rounds.[2][3] She was previously founder and CEO of The Bancorp, an internet provider of financial services to non-bank fintech companies.[4] Cohen is an entrepreneur with more than 50 years in finance, law, banking, and real estate.[3][5][6]
Cohen has served on a variety of philanthropic and corporate boards, including Aetna, Inc., Asia Society, The Brookings Institute, and The Metropolitan Opera. She served on the Bryn Mawr College Board of Trustees for 29 years and remains one of the Emeriti Trustees. She is an Honorary Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[3][7][8][9]
Early life and Education[edit]
Cohen is the daughter of Dr. Sidney N. and Molly Zubrow. She was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Philadelphia High School for Girls. She studied philosophy at Bryn Mawr College (B.A. 1963), followed by the University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D. 1966), where she was one of six women in her graduating class of roughly 200 people and Article Editor of Penn Law Review.[1]
Career[edit]
Law & Early Entrepreneurship[edit]
Cohen’s first job was serving as Law Clerk to the Honorable John Biggs, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 1968 she began teaching insurance, banking, and anti-trust law at Rutgers University Law School (when the only other female law professor teaching on the east coast was Ruth Bader Ginsburg).[1]
Before age 30, Cohen had founded a shipping business in Hong Kong, a leasing company in Brazil, and a joint venture with a bank in Spain, and had co-founded a Philadelphia law firm that specialized in representing financial institutions and industry clients in complex real estate and financial matters.[10] Cohen practiced law until 1983-84, when she left the firm to focus on banking.[1][11]
Jefferson Bank[edit]
When she was 32, Cohen obtained the first new bank charter granted by the State of Pennsylvania in 11 years. She founded Jefferson Bank in Downingtown, PA, in 1974, becoming one of the nation’s first female bank CEOs, and the first female bank CEO in Pennsylvania. As Chairman and CEO of Jefferson Bank and its holding company, JeffBanks, Inc., she took the bank public and grew it to become the largest local financial institution in the greater Philadelphia region. Cohen sold Jefferson Bank to Hudson United Bank in 1999.[3][12]
The Bancorp[edit]
Cohen founded The Bancorp in 1999 and served as Chief Executive Officer of The Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: TBBK) and its subsidiary, The Bancorp Bank, until retiring in December 2014. During this period, the company provided internet banking and financial services to approximately 1600 non-bank fintech companies.[13][14] The Bancorp was described by The Motley Fool (February 3, 2021) as “as one of these players offering not only different kinds of lending products, but also its own unique payments software that serves fintech disruptors and other industries seeking access to banking products….With roughly $6.3 billion in assets, The Bancorp has carved out a niche among fintechs and others that don't have bank charters but still want to offer banking products or services. The bank invested heavily in building out the necessary payments infrastructure that allows it to provide the back-end services that companies need in order to offer some banking products under their own personal brands. These back-end services include the regulatory platform needed, as well as access to the payment networks run by Visa and Mastercard that actually facilitate card transactions.”[15]
FinTech Masala[edit]
As Chairman of FinTech Masala, in March 2021, Cohen brought her ninth special-purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) to market.”[6]
Cohen sponsored her first SPAC, FinTech Acquisition Corp., in January 2015, serving as Chairman until it completed a merger with CardConnect Corp. (NASDAQ: CCN) in July 2016.[16]
She was Chairman of FinTech Acquisition Corp. II, from 2017 until completing a merger transaction with Intermex Holdings II, Inc., the parent company of Intermex Wire Transfer, LLC; newly renamed International Money Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMXI)., in July 2018.[17]
From 2019 through August 2020, Cohen was Chairman of FinTech Acquisition Corp. III, which successfully merged with Paya (NASDAQ: PAYA), a leading integrated payments provider.[18]
In August 2020, Cohen became Chairman of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FTOC), which in February 2021 announced a merger with Payoneer Inc., a global payment and commerce-enabling platform that upon reorganization will operate as Payoneer, a U.S. publicly listed entity with an implied estimated enterprise value of ~$3.3 billion at closing.[19][20][21]
Cohen became Chairman of FinTech Acquisition Corp. IV in September 2020. On December 30, 2020 the SPAC announced plans to merge with global financial advisory firm Perella Weinberg Partners to take the firm public (NASDAQ: PWP); the transaction reflects implied equity value for the reorganized company of ~$975 million.[22]
Cohen became Chairman of FinTech Acquisition Corp. V (NASDAQ: FTCVU) in December 2020. On March 15, 2021, trading platform eToro announced plans to merge into the SPAC in an agreement that values the combined company at about $10.4 billion.[23][24][25]
In February 2021, Cohen became Chairman of FTAC Athena Acquisition Corp., (NASDAQ: FTAAU; “FTAA”); which announced its initial public offering on February 23, 2021.[2]
In March 2021, Cohen became Chairman of FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: HERAU), which on March 4, 2021 announced pricing of its upsized initial public offering.[26]
In March 2021, Cohen became Chairman of FTAC Parnassus Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: FTPAU), which on March 16, 2021 announced the completion of its initial public offering.[27]
Accolades[edit]
Cohen has received awards from numerous business organizations and publications, including the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Drexel University, and National Foundation for Women Business Owners, which in 1997 named her one of 50 leading entrepreneurs of the world.[28] In 2009 US Banker named her one of 25 Women to Watch.[28] She is a past recipient of the Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Awards (from DirectWomen)[29] and the Elizabeth Dole Glass Ceiling Award (Southeastern Pennsylvania American Red Cross).[10]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "https://libdigital.temple.edu/pdfa1/Oral%20Histories/TOHFCJZ201602001…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29. External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "SPAC deals: Cohens move full speed ahead as signs of potential blank …". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Betsy Zubrow Cohen '63 Gives $5 Million Gift for Data Science at Bryn…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "FT Partners | Financial Technology Investment Bank San Francisco". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Betsy Cohen looks back at a trailblazing career in banking - Philadel…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Betsy Cohen Has Launched Nine SPACs and Is Still Going - WSJ". archive.ph. 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Co-Chairs and Trustees | About Asia Society | Asia Society". archive.ph. 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Metropolitan Opera | Board of Directors". archive.ph. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/about-the-met/annual-reports/…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29. External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Betsy Cohen — The Middle East Investment Initiative". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "FinTech Masala - Team". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Philly banker Betsy Cohen leads billion-dollar investment in payments…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Betsy Cohen - Crunchbase Person Profile". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Betsy Cohen Has Launched Nine SPACs and Is Still Going - WSJ". archive.ph. 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "With Its Innovative Business Model, The Bancorp Looks Undervalued | T…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "CardConnect® and FinTech Acquisition Corp. Announce Merger Agreement …". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Intermex Completes Merger with FinTech Acquisition Corp. II | Interna…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Paya and FinTech III Announce Merger Agreement | Business Wire". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Payoneer Reaches $3.3 Billion Deal to Go Public With Betsy Cohen SPAC…". archive.ph. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Betsy Cohen, Payoneer CEO discuss $3.3B SPAC". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Payoneer And The SPAC: Betsy Cohen And Scott Galit On Going Public, P…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "In Record-Breaking Year, SPACs Avoid Gender Diversity Push - Bloomberg". archive.ph. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "EToro Group to Go Public in Merger Deal With SPAC - WSJ". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "EToro Said to Near $10 Billion Merger With Betsy Cohen SPAC - Bloombe…". archive.ph. 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Betsy Cohen and eToro CEO Yoni Assia on going public via SPAC". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. Announces Completion of $851 million Init…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "FTAC Parnassus Acquisition Corp. Announces Completion of $250,000,000…". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 "FinTech Masala - Overview". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ "Betsy Z. Cohen – DirectWomen". archive.ph. 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
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