Karl has an exceptional track record of delivering step-change improvements in performance for private equity clients and individual companies across a wide range of industries. His areas of expertise include identifying strategic success factors and distilling them into practical, near-term operating changes; driving broad-based operating and corporate cost reduction; top-line growth; and change management. Karl is also a co-lead of AlixPartners’ High Tech Practice. Prior to joining the firm, Karl was with McKinsey’s Operational Strategy and Effectiveness Practice. Prior to becoming a consultant, Karl held executive roles at Avenor (formerly Canadian Pacific Forest Products), HJ Heinz, and Boise Cascade.

Representative projects include:

• Co-led the turn-around of Toys R Us, reducing core SG&A costs by over 30%; project resulted in the sale of the company to a KKR-led consortium for a 70% premium
• Led SG&A cost reduction initiative for a global consumer packaged goods manufacturer targeting 23% reduction in controllable non-merchandise costs; program on track to deliver expected benefits
• Developed total performance improvement program for a consumer products company that more than doubled EBITDA within 9 months, including revenue growth of over 20% following five years of steadily declining sales; majority stake in company then sold for more than twice high-end desired value
• Led critical distribution expansion program for internet retailer that doubled peak throughput in 9 months
• Led successful post-merger integration for two specialty manufacturers with total sales of $400 mm

Karl earned his BSME from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California, where he graduated with high honors. He also earned an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, also with high honors. He is active in the Pacific Northwest business community, where he founded both the Seattle Business School Alliance and McKinsey’s Pacific Northwest Alumni Chapter, and also led the local UCLA Anderson School Alumni Chapter. Karl has also served as a special advisor to The Nature Conservancy’s Arizona and Washington Chapters.