Dan Sachar, Principal

Dan has been in the investment and innovation space for years. At New Valley Ventures, he built a multi-million dollar portfolio of early-and-mid-stage firms that has produced financial and strategic returns for its parent, Douglas Elliman Inc.

He is a board member and advisor to multiple early-stage companies and a mentor partner to multiple VC firms.

Prior to New Valley Ventures, he spent years leading Innovation at Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, where his focus on modernizing the service offerings across a nationwide network of 4,500 financial advisors relied on access to the emerging landscape of financial technology firms. Dan led numerous strategic venture capital investments and working relationship with early stage technology firms, while serving as a mentor and advisor on incubators and programs ranging from the Yodlee Incubator to the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia University.

With deep reach into both the entrepreneurial community and the corporate world, Dan now draws on his experiences to find early-stage founders and firms with breakthrough & long-term growth potential

dsachar@highpinesinvestments.com

Richard Lampen, Chairman

Richard Lampen is Chairman of High Pines Investments LLC, a Miami private investment firm and a highly experienced Board director, senior advisor and investor in financial and real estate services. A recent public company CEO and Board Chairman who has a track record of generating outstanding shareholder returns, Mr. Lampen specializes in helping businesses develop high-impact growth plans that effectively align corporate strategy, organic expansion, mergers & acquisitions, and capital-raising activities.

Public Company CEO & Executive Leadership Experience

Mr. Lampen served from 2006 to 2020 as President and CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS), a diversified financial services company headquartered in Miami.  He also served as Ladenburg’s Chairman of the Board from 2018 to 2020.  Under his leadership, Ladenburg’s revenue grew by over 40-fold to nearly $1.5 billion, while its enterprise value grew from $165 million in 2005 to $1.3 billion in its 2020 sale.

Ladenburg was engaged in independent brokerage and advisory services, investment banking, equity research, institutional sales and trading, asset management services and life insurance brokerage. At the time of its acquisition, Ladenburg had over 4,400 independent financial advisors across the country, $180 billion in client assets, and $80 billion of managed assets. 

Mr. Lampen joined Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) in 1995 and served as EVP, COO and a Board member until its sale to JT Group in October 2024 for $3.5 billion, and served as EVP, President, COO and a Board member of Douglas Elliman Inc. (NYSE: DOUG) from the time of its spin-off from Vector Group in 2021 until his retirement as an executive in December 2024. Douglas Elliman owns Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, the largest residential brokerage company in the New York metropolitan area and the sixth largest in the United States, with over 6,500 real estate agents.

Mr. Lampen also served from 2008 to 2019 as President and CEO of Castle Brands Inc. (NYSE American: ROX), a developer and marketer of premium branded spirits. In 2019, Castle was sold to Pernod Ricard, the second largest producer of spirits and wines, for an enterprise value of $300 million, an approximately ten-fold increase during Mr. Lampen’s tenure.  

Corporate Governance & Board Experience

Mr. Lampen has served as a director of many public companies, including Vector Group Ltd., Douglas Elliman Inc., Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc., Castle Brands Inc., New Valley Corporation, U.S. Can Corporation, and Spec's Music Inc. He served as a court-appointed independent director of Trump Plaza Funding, Inc. He is currently a Board member of Douglas Elliman Inc., Sanctuary Wealth Group, a leading independent wealth management firm, and Avalon Spirits Holding Inc.

Mr. Lampen is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Frost Science Museum in Miami and a member of the National Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee.  He is past Chair of the Board of Trustees of Ransom Everglades School, past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Financial Services Institute and a director and past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Miami Children’s Museum. 

Additional Past Experience, Education & Personal Details

Mr. Lampen spent six years at Salomon Brothers Inc, a leading investment banking firm, including as a Managing Director and a senior member of the firm’s Leveraged Finance Group.  During a portion of his career with Salomon Brothers, Mr. Lampen was based in its Tokyo office, where he had primary responsibility for the firm’s mergers and acquisitions efforts in Asia.  Mr. Lampen was a partner from 1992 to 1995 in Steel Hector & Davis, a law firm based in Miami, Florida, where he served as co-chairman of the firm’s Corporate Department.

Mr. Lampen received a B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1975 and a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1978, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.  He is a member of the Florida Bar and has served as Chairman of its Securities Law Committee. 

Mr. Lampen resides in Miami with his wife, Susan.  They are the parents of two daughters, Dr. Katharine Lampen-Sachar, a radiologist at the Sylvester Cancer Cener at the University of Miami, and Caroline Miller, a community activist focused on equity in the health care and social justice spaces; and the grandparents of Sophia, Isabelle, Olive and Matson.

Richard Lampen

rlampen@gmail.com