Antonio J. Gracias

Founder and CEO, Valor Equity Partners and Lead Director for Tesla's Board of Directors

Chicago

Antonio is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Valor Equity Partners, the private equity firm he founded in 2001. Valor is headquartered in Chicago, has offices in San Francisco and New York City, and manages over $1 billion through several investment funds. Valor invests in high growth companies and serves them operationally as they scale. Valor was the first institutional investor in Tesla Motors and Antonio continues as Tesla's Lead Independent Director. He also is a director of several Valor portfolio companies, including Space Exploration Technologies (SPACEX), Marathon Pharmaceuticals, Solar City, and Porch.com.

Prior to Valor, Antonio was the Founder and Managing Member of MG Capital where he acquired and acted as CEO for a number of manufacturing and technology related companies. At MG Capital, together with the team that is still together at Valor today, he developed the operational skills that Valor uses to help its portfolio companies achieve scale and enhance their value. Prior to MG Capital he was at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

A resident of Chicago, Antonio is actively involved in philanthropic activities in his hometown. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a member of the board of directors of The Economic Club of Chicago, a trustee of the Field Museum, a member of the board of directors of World Business Chicago, a member of the board of visitors of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a member of the board of visitors of the University of Chicago Law School.

In 2008, Antonio received the Immigrant & Refugee Contributions Award for Entrepreneurial & Business Leadership from Changing Worlds, an educational arts non-profit organization. He is a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow, an Aspen Institute program designed to engage the next generation of leaders in the challenge of community spirited leadership. In 2015, Antonio was appointed to the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) Program, chaired by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. The program is a first-of-kind collaboration among the White House, entrepreneurs, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partners.

Antonio holds a joint B.S. and M.S.F.S. (honors degree) in International Finance and Economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He also studied corporate structures and economic development at Waseda University in Tokyo. Prior to completing his Masters, Antonio returned to Japan as a Nikko Securities Fellow. Antonio holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.