Peter L. Corsell
Peter L. Corsell (born December 5, 1977) is an American entrepreneur and investor. In 2003, Corsell founded GridPoint, and in 2015 Corsell cofounded Twenty First Century Utilities.[1] Corsell was recognized by MIT as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35 in 2008.[2]
Peter L. Corsell | |
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Corsell at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit | |
Born | |
Education | Georgetown University |
Occupation | Managing Director at I Squared Capital Founder of GridPoint |
Early life and education
Corsell was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Manhattan.[3] Corsell attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where he earned a BSFS degree in 2000.[4][5]
In 1999, Corsell was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency, where he worked as an intelligence officer in the Cuba branch.[4][6] From early 2001 to late 2002, Corsell worked for the U.S. Department of State in Cuba,[5][7] where he served as Special Assistant to Ambassador Vicki J. Huddleston, the Principal Officer of the United States Interests Section in Havana.[8]
Career
GridPoint
At age 25, Corsell founded GridPoint to develop energy management and renewable energy technologies.[4][5][9][10][11]
During his tenure at GridPoint, Corsell raised $200 million from Goldman Sachs and several venture capital firms, increasing the company's market value by twelve times within five years.[12][13] He was featured in several books including Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman, Perfect Power by Bob Galvin and Kurt Yeager, Earth: The Sequel by Fred Krupp, The Clean Tech Revolution by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilde, and The Plot to Save the Planet: How Visionary Entrepreneurs and Corporate Titans Are Creating Real Solutions to Global Warming by Brian Dumaine.[14][15][16][17]
He served as the company’s CEO from 2003 until 2010, when he unexpectedly resigned amid a management shakeup and sold most of his shares.[18] Corsell was succeeded as CEO by longtime Berkshire Hathaway executive Todd Raba, who previously ran the MidAmerican Energy Company.[19][20]
The Stagwell Group
After leaving GridPoint, Corsell cofounded Hubub in 2011.[21] Hubub was a social community for internet users to explore and debate topics of interest. Users created multimedia channels containing articles, images and videos on specific topics.[22][23] In partnership with Bell Media, Canada’s largest multimedia company, Hubub developed a significant following in Canada, and was featured in a 2015 Super Bowl commercial.[24][25][26][27] In 2016, Hubub was acquired by The Stagwell Group, a digital marketing services conglomerate founded by Mark Penn and backed by Steve Ballmer, and the company was renamed Stagwell Tech. Corsell is currently Senior Advisor to The Stagwell Group.[28][29]
Twenty First Century Utilities
In 2015, after a five-year absence from the energy industry, Corsell cofounded Twenty First Century Utilities, an investment firm seeking to acquire and modernize regulated electric utility companies.[30][31] In June 2016, Corsell and TFC Utilities cofounder Larry Kellerman appeared on the Charlie Rose show to discuss the ways in which TFC Utilities is contributing to the clean energy industry.[32]
In November 2015, TFC Utilities acquired control of GridPoint for $62.5 million, enabling Corsell to retake control of his first company.[1][33][34][35] In 2017 and 2018, TFC Utilities was reported to be exploring electric utility acquisitions in Hawaii, South Carolina and Bermuda.[36][37][38][39][40][41]
I Squared Capital
In July 2019, TFC Utilities was acquired by I Squared Capital, a $20 billion private equity firm in the global infrastructure sector. Corsell is currently Managing Director at I Squared, where he led the creation and execution of the firm’s technology investment strategy.[42]
Awards and affiliations
In 2008, MIT Technology Review recognized Corsell as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[2]
In 2008, Corsell was named Chairman of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Sustainable Energy.[43]
In 2009, Corsell was a founding member of the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.[44][45]
In 2010, the World Economic Forum named Corsell a Young Global Leader.[46][47]
In 2015, the National Association of Corporate Directors included Corsell on its inaugural list of leading directors under 40.[48]
Corsell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO).[49][50]
Corsell is a member of the Yale School of Architecture Dean’s Council and serves on the board of the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami Beach, Florida.[51]
References
- Pentland, William (November 13, 2015). "Twenty First Century Utilities Buys GridPoint". Forbes.
- "Innovators Under 35, 2008". MIT Technology Review, August 2008.
- "World Economic Forum's "New Champions" Include Two Horace Mann School Alumni". Horace Mann School. September 14, 2010.
- "It's the Network". Forbes. September 26, 2007.
- "Special Report: Grid Unlocked, A smart, digital electric power system could bring vast energy-efficiency gains and a new wave of entrepreneurship". Washington Monthly, September 5, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
- "The Futurists: From solar panels to clean coal, betting big on the future of energy". Inc. Magazine, November 1, 2006.
- Huddleson, Vicki (2018). Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat's Chronicle of America's Long Struggle with Castro's Cuba. The Overlook Press.
- Dumaine, Brian (2008). The Plot to Save the Planet: How Visionary Entrepreneurs and Corporate Titans Are Creating Real Solutions to Global Warming. Random House. p. 134. ISBN 9780307449313.
- Esther Dyson (June 2005). "Dr. Market: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Lose Control" (PDF). CNET.
- "Being Al Gore: Entrepreneurs offer advice to the veep-cum-venture capitalist". Inc. Magazine. February 1, 2008.
- Etherington, Darrell. "Hubub Raises $8.5M To Be The New Home For Conversations On The Web". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- "Brian Wingfield On Energy". Forbes. December 17, 2008.
- "GridPoint Takes $120 Million". New York Times. September 24, 2008.
- Friedman, Thomas (2009). Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America. New York, NY: Picador. pp. 268.
corsell.
- Galvin, Robert; Yeager, Kurt (2008). Perfect Power: How the Microgrid Revolution Will Unleash Cleaner, Greener, More Abundant Energy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780071641654.
- Krupp, Fred (2008). Earth: the Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming. New York, NY: Norton and Company. pp. 204.
peter corsell.
- Pernick, Ron; Wilder, Clint (2007). The Clean Tech Revolution. Collins. pp. 9, 183, 286, 397. ISBN 9780061740466.
- "Corsell Out as GridPoint CEO". Greentech Media. October 15, 2018.
- "GridPoint Appoints Board Member Todd Raba CEO". Washington Business Journal. October 17, 2013.
- "Appointment of Todd Raba as new CEO of GridPoint, Inc - A crucial turn for the company and the enterprise energy management solutions industry". Frost & Sullivan. October 17, 2013.
- "After leaving GridPoint, Corsell cofounded Hubub in 2011". TechCrunch. February 20, 2014.
- "Bell Media Invests in Canadian Digital Startup Hubub". Bell Media. October 1, 2014.
- "What the heck is a Hubub?". The Loop. December 19, 2014.
- "Bell Media invests $5M in Canadian digital start-up Hubub". CTV News. October 1, 2014.
- "Canada's Bell Media Invests in Social Network Hubub". Hollywood Reporter. October 1, 2014.
- "ubub 2015 Super Bowl Commercial (30 Second Spot)". YouTube. February 1, 2015.
- "What's all the Hubub?". Toronto Star. March 1, 2015.
- "Stagwell Media Moves into Advertising Tech and Big Data". PR Newswire. October 19, 2016.
- "Stagwell Buys to Establish Big Data and Ad Tech Unit". The Stagwell Group. October 19, 2016.
- "Industry Pioneer: The Road To Electric Utility Of The Future Is Paved With Prosumer Technology". Forbes. February 15, 2016.
- "Twenty First Century Utilities to make utility buy in 2017, exec says" (PDF). Mergermarket. September 15, 2016.
- "Twenty First Century Utilities". Charlie Rose. June 9, 2016.
- "TFC Utilities buys Goldman Sachs-backed GridPoint". PE HUB. November 13, 2015.
- "In a bid to reimagine power delivery, TFC Utilities buys GridPoint". Utility Dive. November 17, 2015.
- "GridPoint's Buyer Has a Plan to Transform the Utility Industry". Washington Business Journal. November 13, 2015.
- "'Million rate bases': TFC makes the case for a new IOU business model in Hawaii". Utility Dive. March 24, 2017.
- "New Suitor for Hawaiian Electric Companies". Ililani Media. March 28, 2017.
- "Kona Energy Forum Addressed Energy Transformation". Ililani Media. June 16, 2017.
- "Santee Cooper gets a potential buyer from South Carolina". The Post and Courier. December 18, 2017.
- "Two utilities offering about $10 billion each to buy Santee Cooper". The Post and Courier. February 15, 2017.
- "US firm and investors table Ascendant bid". The Royal Gazette. May 4, 2018.
- Walton, Rod (July 31, 2019). "I Squared Capital partnering with clean energy-focused venture firm". Power Engineering.
- "A New Generation Charges Ahead". Forbes. January 26, 2009.
- "Top CEOs Launch Electrification Coalition". Electrification Coalition. November 16, 2009.
- "Electrification Coalition Members". Electrification Coalition.
- "World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2010". TechCrunch, March 3, 2010.
- "Young Global Leaders". World Economic Forum, March 3, 2010.
- "Directors Under Age 40". NACD Directorship Magazine. April 10, 2015.
- "CFR Membership Roster" (PDF). Council on Foreign Relations. 2011.
- "Bloomberg Executive Profile". Bloomberg.
- "The Wolfsonian–FIU appoints four new board members and elects new officers". The Wolfsonian-FIU, June 28, 2010.