Michael is adept at pursuing and implementing creative solutions for troubled and underperforming companies. His extensive experience allows for a unique platform to provide transitional and crisis management to organizations experiencing financial challenges. Michael has served in a variety of interim officer and advisory roles where the results were long-term operating and financial stability. He has strong financial and operating skills and is accomplished at managing under liquidity constraints, implementing cost reductions and responding to the competitive pressures that result from changing markets.

Michael's recent assignments include:

• Interim C.O.O. of Bally Total Fitness following emergence from a prepackaged Chapter 11
• Advisor to electricity generator, Calpine Corp., one of the largest companies to file Chapter 11 after the 2005 change to the bankruptcy law
• Chief Restructuring Officer of Avado Brands, Inc., a $300 million casual dining restaurant operator that confirmed its reorganization plan in 2005
• Chief Restructuring Officer of DIRECTV – Latin America (“DTVLA”) where the bankruptcy process was used to make significant improvements to various international programming contracts, to reduce operating costs, and to minimize the risk of foreign exchange fluctuations.
• Advisor to dj Orthopedics in a major profit improvement initiative that resulted in a tenfold increase in stock price

Michael earned an MBA with distinction in finance from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Michigan. He holds the designation as a Certified Turnaround Professional awarded by the Association of Certified Turnaround Professionals and served on that organization’s board of directors since 2006.