Avy Stein

Founder and Co-Chairman – Cresset Capital Management

Mr. Stein is Cresset Capital Management’s co-founder and co-chairman. With his Cresset co-founder, Mr. Stein has been involved with starting, investing in and growing over 150 businesses and raising funds totaling over $8 billion.

Before launching Cresset in 2017, Mr. Stein served as Chief Executive Officer of Willis Stein & Partners, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1994, where he was responsible for managing the firm’s investments in the education, recycling, telecommunications, energy and consumer sectors. During that time, Mr. Stein also co-founded Lincoln Clean Energy, a developer, owner and operator of utility-scale clean energy projects later acquired by I Squared Capital in 2016.

Earlier in his career, from 1989 to 1994, Mr. Stein served as managing director for Continental Illinois Venture Corp (CIVC). Previously, he was President of Cook Energy Corporation, an oil and gas exploration and production company, and served as the parent company’s vice president of corporate planning and legal affairs. Mr. Stein began his career in 1980 as an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis.

Deeply committed to giving back, Stein is an active philanthropist and civic leader. He is a member of the Board of Trustees, former Treasurer, and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ravinia Festival. He is also a member of the Harvard Law School Leadership Council. He also provides fundraising support and strategic counsel for B.U.I.L.D. (Broader Urban Involvement in Leadership Development), a nonprofit organization that provides career and educational development for at-risk youth on Chicago’s south and west sides. He is also a director for the Western Golf Association and supports the Evans Scholars Foundation.

Mr. Stein received his law degree from Harvard Law School and holds a B.S. in accounting from the University of Illinois.