Pioneering Spirit: Global Luxury & Career Development with the CEO of Moët Hennessy (LVMH)

As the newly appointed CEO of Moët Hennessy North America, Seth is responsible for leading the development, growth and business vision for the company’s storied portfolio of iconic champagne, wines and spirits brands.

During his 19-year tenure at PepsiCo, Seth held various strategic senior Marketing, Sales and General Manager roles. Most recently, Seth was President of Nutrition, North America & The Hive Emerging Brand Unit, a new operating entity within the company, which served to foster the next generation of rising, PepsiCo brands with strong consumer potential in high opportunity segments. In his role, Seth had direct accountability for Profit and Loss across PepsiCo’s U.S. nutrition businesses, oversaw all business functions and was responsible for driving sustainable top and bottom-line results.

Prior to that, Seth was Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo North America Beverages, where he led the holistic business, brand and consumer agenda across the U.S. beverage portfolio; before, he held various senior marketing positions within the company.

Seth is a passionate people leader, adept at creating strong team cultures. He’s received numerous accolades including honors from International Television and Radio Society “Hall of Mentorship,” American Advertising Federation (AAF) “Hall of Achievement,” Business Insider “50 Most Innovative CMOs,” AdAge “Media Maven” and more.

Adam Ezra is Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of QuadPay, a global digital payments company that provides consumers a smarter alternative to credit cards and a better way to spend with interest-free installment payments, everywhere they shop.

QuadPay recently merged with Aussie payment technology pioneer Zip Co. (ASX: Z1P) to form a $2B global fintech alliance. Since launching in 2017, QuadPay has become one of the fastest-growing point-of-sale installment payments providers in the U.S., with more than 4 million customers and 7,200 world-class retail partners.

Prior to QuadPay, Adam founded multiple successful consumer-focused businesses in the fashion and apparel category. He also worked in private equity with Illyria Pty, the private investment vehicle of Lachlan Murdoch, and in investment banking with global financial services company Macquarie Group. Adam holds a BSc (Business Information Technology, co-op scholarship) from the University of New South Wales, Sydney.

Rachel Tipograph considered herself amongst the digerati since the moment she became an eBay power user at 13. Forbes listed Rachel as one of its “30 under 30 Who Are Changing The World,” Marie Claire named her one of “The 50 Most Influential Women in America,” Fast Company named her one of “The Most Creative People in Business,” AdAge named her one of “The Most Creative People of The Year,” AdWeek named her one of “The Young Influentials Shaping Business and Culture,” Entrepreneur named her one of the “50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs,” Goldman Sachs named her one of “The 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs,” Business Insider named her one of “New York Tech’s Coolest People”, Refinery29 named her one of its “Rising Female Tech Stars,” The Wrap named her one of “The 11 Change Agents Disrupting Hollywood,” and LinkedIn named her one of its “Next Wave: Top Professionals 35 & Under.”

After being the Global Director of Digital and Social Media at Gap where she oversaw strategy, implementation and measurement, Rachel traveled the world solo and then founded MikMak, the enterprise marketing eCommerce platform that helps brands better understand consumers by connecting digital investments to online retailer insights.

Gilles Gade is Founder, President and CEO of Cross River, having served as Chairman for the company since its inception in 2008. Gilles’ vision is steering Cross River as an innovation-driven, state-chartered bank and provider of trusted financial solutions, to the marketplace lending and next-generation payment processing arenas. Gilles graduated from the MBA Institute IMIP (Groupe IPESUP) in Paris, with a Masters of Science in International Management. In 1990 he began his career at Citicorp Venture Capital. Later on he served as CFO of First Meridian Mortgage, and was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Chela Technology Partners. In addition, he was Technology Investment Banker at Barclays Capital, and FIG Investment Banker at Bear Stearns.

Charlie Merinoff is a principal founder of Breakthru Beverage Group (BBG), the innovative beverage wholesaler formed by Charmer Sunbelt Group (CSG) and Wirtz Beverage Group on January 1, 2016. He currently serves as Co-Chairman of BBG’s Board of Managers. The operations of the company and its affiliates spans 16 markets throughout North America, and the company represents a portfolio of premier wine, spirits and beer brands totaling more than $6 billion in annual sales.
Previously Charlie was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Charmer Sunbelt Group (CSG), one of the nation’s leading distributors of fine wines and spirits. Following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin in 1980, Charlie joined the family’s business, holding various positions in operations, purchasing and sales. In 1991, Charlie was named President of Charmer Industries, the family’s Metro New York business. In 1994, the family acquired Sunbelt Beverage Corporation, then operating distributorships in several Eastern states. The Sunbelt Beverage Corporation continued to expand through acquisitions and partnerships, and in 1997 the wholesale companies in which the family had an interest became known as The Charmer Sunbelt Group. In 2011, he was named Chairman of the Board of The Charmer Sunbelt Group..
Charlie devotes a significant amount of time and resources to charitable organizations. He is presently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He is the founder and director of True Eats, a non- profit organization whose mission is to raise money for nonprofits in the food space. Additionally, Charlie spent twelve years on the Board of Trustees of the Culinary Institute of America and is currently Trustee Emeritus.
Charles has previously been on the Board of Trustees of Northwell Health - formerly North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and Make-A Wish Foundation Metro New York. Charlie spearheaded the annual “Wine and Wishes” tasting and auction, which raised nearly $8.0 million over 13 years for Make-A-Wish. He was an active member of the Board of the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation for twenty years.
Charlie has been honored over the years by The TJ Martell Foundation, Wine Enthusiast -Wine Star Award- “Person of the Year”, Boys Town of Italy, the Boy Scouts of America, the UJA-Federation of New York, the American Cancer Society and he received the George Washington Spirit Award at Mt. Vernon. He is a long-time board member and past Chairman of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.