Thomas C Davis

Mr. Davis, a Harvard Business School graduate and a Navy veteran, served on at least nine other corporate boards, including Triton Energy, Suiza Foods, and the Dallas-based Colonial Bank (now owned by BB&T Financial). He was chief executive of the Concorde Group and a founder of Bluffview Capital, both investment firms. Before that, he was a managing partner at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he was head of banking and corporate finance for the southwestern United States and handled many mergers and acquisitions. He left after Credit Suisse acquired the firm in 2001. According to the S.E.C.’s complaint, by April 2010 Mr. Davis was in “desperate” financial straits. He owed the I.R.S. $78,000. His brokerage account was heavily margined, and he had run up tens of thousands in credit card debt. He owed $550,000 to one of his investment funds. Mr. Davis sought salvation in gambling and in Mr. Walters, whom he met decades earlier on a golf course. The two often played together, especially when they were both living in Southern California. The insider trading scheme began around June 2008, when Mr. Davis tipped Mr. Walters to Dean Foods’ coming earnings. In just one month, March 2011, Mr. Davis ran up gambling losses of $200,000 at one Las Vegas casino. He owed $178,000 for the private jet. And he had to cover the $100,000 he had taken from a charity. Mr. Walters guaranteed a $400,000 line of credit for Mr. Davis, who promptly drew down $350,000 of it. And Mr. Davis repaid Mr. Walters’s $625,000 loan, with interest. Mr. Davis ultimately received over $1 million in “loans” from Mr. Walters, most never repaid. As it turned out, that was a pittance compared to the $43 million in profit Mr. Walters reportedly reaped from Mr. Davis’s tips — a sum Mr. Davis learned of only in the course of the investigation. Despite Mr. Davis’s reputation as a skilled deal maker, that will surely rank as one of the worst insider trading deals in history, and it may help explain why Mr. Davis is now cooperating with the government against Mr. Walters. Thomas C. Davis, also known as Tom, has been the Chief Executive Officer of The Concorde Group since March 2001. Mr. Davis previously served as Managing Director of Bluffview Capital, LP, an investment banking firm that he co-founded, from 2001 to 2012 and as Managing Partner of Gryphon Special Situations Fund L.P. from 2004 to 2009. He served as the Managing Partner and Head of Banking and Corporate Finance for the Southwest Division at Credit Suisse First Boston (formerly, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation) from March 1984 to February 2001. Mr. Davis was responsible for the merger and acquisition activity as well as the equity and leverage finance activity which First Boston undertook in the Southwest. In this position, Mr. Davis worked with several large private equity firms, in addition to a variety of public and private companies, including companies in the broadcast and telecommunications, energy, food service and processing and retailing industries. He was the Aviator for the United States Navy. Mr. Davis has been the Chairman of Affirmative Insurance Holdings Inc. since June 5, 2013. He served as the Non-Executive Chairman of Dean Foods Company from May 1, 2013 to August 7, 2015 and as its Director from March 2001 to August 7, 2015. He has been an Independent Director of BioHorizons, Inc. since February 2BIS since February 2008. He has been a Director of Affirmative Insurance Holdings, Inc. since July 2004. He serves as a Director of Colonial Bank. He served as a Director of Alphatec Holdings, Inc. from October 2014 to May 18, 2016. He served as an Independent Director of WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. since 2012 until May 18, 2016. Mr. Davis served as a Director of Alphatec Spine, Inc. until May 18, 2016. Mr. Davis served as a Director of Triton Energy Limited and Suiza Foods Corporation. He served as a Director of Westwood Holdings Group Inc. since April 22, 2004. He served as a Director of Westwood Trust from March 2004 to December 2006. Mr. Davis received a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and MBA from Harvard Business School.