In 1999, Mr. Ghandour established TI Capital as a venture capital fund investing in early-stage technology companies, across ecommerce, SaaS, early internet, mobile gaming, and consumer technology, while developing a deep and robust network of proprietary deal flow that still exists today. Witnessing the excess and eventual selloff through the dotcom bubble gave way to new opportunities for TI Capital. As a director of a public U.S. midstream oil and gas company during the early 2000s, Mr. Ghandour headed overseas expansion with deals in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, while also building a successful project management and consulting business in the Middle East. He then developed TI Capital into a multinational family of companies with expertise in global private equity, large-scale real estate projects, and venture capital & growth equity investing.
Notable endeavors and partnership by Mr. Ghandour and TI Capital include anchoring and building a leading securitized corporate credit manager, providing the first institutional capital to the third largest POS and mobile payment solutions company, establishing a physical and digital banking and financial services platform across unbanked populations in West Africa, amassing one of the largest portfolios of cell-tower land leases in the U.S., bringing to successful IPO an Italian NPL servicer and a European rail ticketing platform, and currently developing one of the largest master-planned single-family communities in Northern California.
Prior to founding TI Capital, as a third generation “oil man,” Mr. Ghandour’s primary focus was on structuring oil ventures, successfully transforming a vertically integrated oil company in a globally diversified holding company. Mr. Ghandour holds degrees in business and political science from Pepperdine University and received an MBA from Pepperdine’s prestigious President and Key Executive program.
Outside of family and work, the activity he has been most proud of throughout his lifetime is his storied racing career, spanning from rallying to GT3 circuit racing, which he considers not only a motivational tool but a necessary breakaway from daily life trappings.