Our management team has created a highly focused vision based on EZCORP’s participation in a large and growing market and a thoroughly developed understanding of our customer. We have built the processes, systems, infrastructure, and human capital to succeed in our marketplace.
Mr. Cohen has been a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Chairman since September 2019.
He has been an owner of, and advisor to, the Company for 30 years. He acquired the Company in 1989 and took it public in 1991 with an initial public offering of Class A Non-Voting Common Stock. Mr. Cohen has over 40 years of investment banking and financial advisory experience with a variety of firms, including Kuhn Loeb & Co. Incorporated (1973-1977), Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb Incorporated (1977-1979), The First Boston Corporation (1980), Oppenheimer & Co, Inc. (1980-1984), Morgan Schiff & Co., Inc. (1984-Present) and Madison Park LLC (2004 to Present).
Mr. Cohen received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University. Mr. Cohen is the sole stockholder of MS Pawn Corporation, which is the general partner of MS Pawn Limited Partnership, the owner of 100% of the outstanding shares of our Class B Voting Common Stock.
In March 2022, Lachie was named Chief Executive Officer and was elected to EZCORP’s Board of Directors. He is responsible for our overall executive leadership and strategic direction.
Lachie was appointed as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors in July 2014, joined the company as Executive Vice Chairman in August 2014, and became Executive Chairman in February 2015. In July 2019, he stepped down as Executive Chairman and was named Chief Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions and Strategic Funding Officer, a position he held until January 2022 when he was named Co-Interim Chief Executive Officer.
Before joining the company as an executive, Lachie provided financial and advisory services to the company through his own business and financial advisory firm and as a consultant and advisor to Madison Park LLC, which is owned by Phillip E. Cohen, who is the beneficial owner of the company’s Class B Voting Common Stock.
Lachie is a member of the board of directors of The Farm Journal Corporation, a 134-year old pre-eminent US agricultural media company. He is also on the boards of Senetas Corporation Limited (SEN.AX), the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of certified, defense-grade encryption solutions; and CANSTAR Pty Ltd, the leading Australian financial services ratings and research firm.
Lachie began his career working in the investment banking and equity capital markets divisions of Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia, where he specialized in the origination and execution of a variety of M&A, equity and equity-linked and fixed income transactions. Lachie currently serves on the board of directors of Cash Converters International Limited (ASX: CCV), an affiliate of the company.
Lachie graduated from the Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Banking and Finance (with distinction).
Tim was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in May 2021. He was named as Interim Chief Financial Officer in September 2020, having served as the Company’s Vice President, Treasury and M&A since December 2016, and as a consultant to EZCORP performing similar duties since March 2015.
From January 2015 to December 2016, Tim was a principal of Selene Partners Inc., a financial consulting firm providing strategic advice and other business services to a variety of clients, including the Company and Morgan Schiff & Co., Inc. Tim served as the Chief Financial Officer of Morgan Schiff from April 2013 to December 2014, and was Chief Financial Officer of ShippingEasy, Inc. from July 2011 to April 2013. From April 2005 to June 2012, Tim was a Corporate Advisor at Lexicon Partners Pty Limited, an independent corporate advisory and consulting firm based in Sydney, Australia. He served in various analyst and senior analyst positions at boutique investment banks for seven years prior to that.
Tim also serves as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Cash Converters International Limited (ASX: CCV), an affiliate company, having been appointed to that position in April 2022. From April 2015 to April 2021 he served as a non-executive board member and Chairman of Ratecity Pty Ltd., which operates one of Australia’s leading financial comparison sites.
Tim received a Bachelor of Business degree with a major in Finance and a minor in Mathematics from the University of Technology in Sydney.
Keith joined EZCORP in October 2018 as Senior Vice President, Global IT and New Ventures, and was promoted to Chief Information Officer in November 2019.
Prior to EZCORP, Keith spent seven years at AIG, working on a global transformation of the IT systems, facilities, and workforce.
From 1989 until 2011, Keith worked at EDS/HP. He last served as COO for the Financial Services division, where he led IT programs supporting Bank of America, American Express, State Farm and many others.
Keith grew up in Scotland and attended Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, where he graduated with an Honors degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Nikki Swies is our Chief Revenue Officer. She is responsible for our long-term growth strategy that will help us continue to be the first and best choice for our customer’s short-term cash needs. She joined EZCORP in November 2002 as a Financial Analyst and has worked in various finance and analytics positions supporting our operating businesses in the U.S. and Latin America. She served as Chief Revenue and Operations Officer, with responsibility for digital initiatives, global operations administration, marketing and the earning assets team, from September 2020 to March 2022, when her title was changed to Chief Revenue Officer.
Nikki is a member of the Community Advisory Council for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas and on the finance committee of ConnectHer, a global non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls through projects, stories and film.
Nikki earned her BBA in finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
Lisa VanRoekel joined EZCORP as Chief Human Resources Officer in January 2021.
Prior to EZCORP, Lisa enjoyed an expansive 19-year career with Grupo Santander, one of the largest international banks in the world that serves over 100 million customers with 187,000 employees. As an expert leading cultural change and innovative large-scale organizational transformation, Lisa headed Human Resources functions at Santander Digital, Santander Consumer USA (SCUSA), and Santander Bank, N.A. (SBNA). Prior to joining Grupo Santander, she was Director of Human Resources at Allied Riser Communications.
Her most recent assignment at Santander was as Head of HR with Santander Digital, where she was responsible for building digital and innovation talent across the US, Europe and Latin America.
Her experience spans all facets of Human Resources including employee relations, benefits, communications, compensation, talent acquisition and development, diversity and inclusion, risk management, Board relations, and vendor management. She holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Journalism from Texas A&M Commerce (formerly East Texas State University).
Ellen was named the Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of the company in January 2023. She originally joined EZCORP as Associate General Counsel in 2004 and has held legal roles of increasing responsibility culminating with her promotion to CLO. During her tenure with the company, Ellen has been responsible for legal support of the company’s pawn operations, with experience in the U.S. and Mexico, and for mergers and acquisitions, financial services, compliance, and general corporate matters.
Ellen received her J.D. degree from the University of Houston Law Center and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Sunil joined EZCORP in April 2020 as Chief Audit Executive and was named to the Executive Committee in January 2021. Prior to EZCORP, Sunil spent six years at Santander Consumer USA in multiple leadership roles, initially as Chief Audit Executive and most recently as Chief Digital Officer, Head of Service for Others and Digital Strategic Partnerships.
Sunil started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Transaction Advisory Services, mainly serving large banks and specialty finance institutions. Additionally, he has worked extensively in retail, private equity and real estate.
He attended the University of Michigan where he obtained his Bachelor in Financial Economics and later Eastern Michigan University where he earned his Master’s in Accounting.
Sunil grew up in the Philippines, speaks five languages, is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager. He serves on two non-profit boards, a private equity advisory board and served 10 years in the Army reserves.