H. William Jesse Jr.

Since 1986 Bill has been an investor in and advisor to growth oriented product and service companies. He has worked with such firms as WIRED Ventures (www.wired.com), Design Within Reach (www.dwr.com), Specialized Bicycle Components (www.specialized.com), and Peet’s Coffee & Tea (www.peets.com). Bill has served on over 20 boards in the last 35 years. In addition to serving as Chairman of The Hive Group, Bill is presently Chairman of The Wine Group, the second largest U.S. wine business, and Chairman of Serena & Lily (www.serenaandlily.com), a fast growing home furnishings company. Prior to 1986 Bill had extensive operating management experience including CEO of two cruise lines and responsibility for an extensive collection of marketing and distribution businesses operating in Africa, Asia & Europe.

Bill is a graduate of Lehigh University and the Harvard Business School. He is the author of several case studies that have been taught at Harvard and other leading business schools.

He is Chair of the Coral Reef Alliance, a non-profit that develops and implements sustainable solutions to reverse coral reef damage and maintain healthy reef ecosystems. CORAL operates in Mexico, Central America and the Pacific.