Alec Gores

Alec E. Gores
Born	1953 Nazareth, Israel
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, private equity investor
Years active	1978–present
Known for	Founder of The Gores Group, SPAC pioneer

Alec E. Gores (; born 1953) is an American billionaire entrepreneur who amassed his wealth through leveraged buyouts of technology companies via The Gores Group. Since the mid-2010s, he has played a significant role in advancing the use of SPACs.

Early life

Gores was born in 1953 in Nazareth, Israel, into a Catholic family with heritage tracing back to Greece and Lebanon. In 1968, his family emigrated to Flint, Michigan. During his adolescence, he gained experience working at his uncle's retail shop. He earned a degree in computer science from Western Michigan University, becoming the first member of his family to pursue higher education.

Career

Following graduation, Gores had a brief tenure at General Motors before establishing a computer distribution business. In 1978, with an $8,000 contribution from his father, he launched Executive Business Systems. By 1986, the company had grown to over 200 employees and was acquired by CONTEL for approximately $2 million.

In 1987, he founded The Gores Group, a private equity firm that has invested in or acquired more than 130 enterprises. He was a pioneer of an operationally focused private equity model, initially deploying his own capital before raising nearly $4 billion from institutional investors. Among his prominent transactions were carve-outs such as The Learning Company from Mattel, Verifone from HP, Therakos from Johnson & Johnson, Lineage (subsequently sold to GE), and Sagemcom, which evolved into a leading French tech company.

Together with his brother Tom, Gores purchased Alliance Entertainment in 2011, a distributor servicing major retailers including Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, and Target.

Forbes placed him at No. 391 on its 2020 Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. He received the LA Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year award in 2021 and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal.

In 2021, Gores spearheaded several SPAC launches such as Gores Holdings VII and VIII, publicly filed for Gores Technology Partners I and II, and collaborated with Guggenheim Partners on Gores Guggenheim—further cementing his prominence in SPAC ventures.

Personal life

As of 2009, Gores practices Catholicism. He is married to Kelly Noonan-Gores, who is known for producing and directing the documentary HEAL, and they have six children. He was previously married to Lisa.

He is the elder sibling of Tom Gores, founder of Platinum Equity, and Sam Gores, who leads Paradigm Talent Agency.

Gores also commissioned the 2005 movie The Kid & I, featuring his son Eric as a co-star.

See also

• List of largest houses in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area