Private Equity Chicago Forum Chicago | August 5-6, 2025 Request Agenda

Christopher Zook, Founder, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, CAZ Investments

Christopher Zook is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer of CAZ Investments. He has more than 30 years of experience investing in both traditional and alternative asset classes. Christopher recently co-authored “The Holy Grail of Investing,” with Tony Robbins, which became a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Christopher was honored with the Texas Alternative Investments Association’s (TAIA) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution and sustained support of the industry in Texas. He is a regular contributor to major media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg. Prior to starting CAZ Investments in 2001, Christopher served in senior leadership positions with Oppenheimer, Prudential Securities, Lehman Brothers, and Paine Webber. Christopher is actively involved in public policy and frequently serves as a resource to state and local officials. In 2019, Christopher was appointed by the Governor to serve on the State of Texas Pension Review Board, where he chairs the Investment Committee. He also recently served two terms as a member of the Greater Houston Partnership’s Executive Committee and is a past President of the “C” Club of Houston. Christopher is a graduate of Texas Tech University where he was honored as a Distinguished Alumni. A lifelong Houstonian, he is a former Vice-Chairman of the Deacons and serves on the Finance Committee at Second Baptist Church. He has held leadership positions on a variety of charitable boards, including his current role on the board of Elizabeth Ruth’s Home, an organization helping adults with autism. Christopher previously served as President of the Board of Trustees of Avondale House and President of The Children’s Fund. He is a proud father to Christopher, Jr. (and daughter-in-law, Cecelia Zook, and grandson “Tripp”) and husband to his high school sweetheart, Lisa. 

John Hatherly, Founder, Managing Partner, Wynnchurch Capital

John Hatherly founded Wynnchurch Capital in 1999. Prior to Wynnchurch, he enjoyed a twelve-year career as a senior executive at GE Capital’s Merchant Banking Group. Before GE Capital, John spent three years in banking with the First National Bank of Chicago and BankOne. John has played a lead role in more than 250 investments totaling over $15 billion over his 30-plus-year investment career, including acquisitions, buyouts, recapitalizations, project financing and leasing.

Greg Kazarian, Co-Founding Operating Partner, Chicago Pacific Founders

Mr. Kazarian partners with his partners at CPF and the founders and leaders at CPF s port- folio companies to deliver on their vision of improving healthcare through smart business that supports providers as they deliver premium, personalized patient care. Prior to Co Co-Founding CPF Kazarian was a member of the Founding Team at R1 R1-RCM. During his ten- ure at R1, the company grew to more than $1.2B in IPO value in just six years. During his tenure at R1 Kazarian served in various C C-Suite roles including Chief People Officer, Gen- eral Counsel and Executive leader of its physician advisory services business where he was instrumental in driving a 650% increase in annual revenue. While Kazarian has a proven track record of value creation for growth businesses, Kazarian s passion is patient centered, innovative care. He is a driven advocate for CPF s mission to disrupt the healthcare industry with an innovative healthcare delivery model. He was previously a partner at Pedersen and Houpt in Chicago where he spent 16 years representing mid mid-sized growth companies.

David Gau, President, Head of Operations, Pritzker Private Capital

Mr. Gau is President and Head of Operations for Pritzker Private Capital. David joined PPC in 2014 and previously served as Chief Operating Officer, an Operating Partner and Co Co-Head of the Manufactured Products sector team. David works with Aurorium, Bardstown Bourbon Company, C.H. Guenther & Son, HeartLand, Highline Warren, Monogram Foods, PathGroup, Plaskolite, PLZ, ProAmpac, and Technimark. David joined PPC after a 30 30-year career building and operating multi multi-national organizations. Prior to PPC, he served as CEO of Intersystems, a manufacturer of material handling equipment for agricultural and industri- al applications. Prior to Intersystems, he served as EVP of Global Commercial Operations and Group President of Industrial Fluid Power for Gates Corp. Prior to Gates Corp., he served as President of Air System Components, a division of Tomkins. David received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Drew Oetting, Founding Partner, 8VC

Drew Oetting is co-founder and President of 8VC. 8VC is a venture capital business focused on investments and ground-up company building across software, health delivery, logistics, biotechnology, and defense. 8VC has invested over $5B across hundreds of companies including Palantir, Guardant Health, Resilience, Anduril, Oculus, The Boring Company, Asana, Cityblock Health, Joby Aviation, Orca Bio and Deliverr. He began his career as chief of staff to Joe Lonsdale (co-founder of 8VC, Palantir, Addepar and OpenGov). Drew serves on the Competitiveness Council for Cerberus Capital Management. Outside of business Drew is involved in numerous philanthropic efforts including Cicero Institute, University of Austin, Andy Roddick Foundation, WeAreThorn and Stand Together. Drew is a trustee for the Claremont McKenna College Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and principal sponsor for IowaHealthyKids. Drew has degrees in mathematics and economics from Claremont McKenna College where he sang acapella and played varsity golf. He lives in Austin, Texas and is originally from Iowa City, Iowa. 

Brad Dorchinecz, Co-Founder & Managing Director, 50 South Capital

Brad Dorchinecz is the Managing Director of the Private Equity Group for 50 South Capital, a group he co-founded in 2000. He oversees all aspects of the investment process for primary, secondary and direct co-investments. This includes sourcing and analyzing venture capital, buyout and credit investment opportunities in the United States, Europe and Asia. He is responsible for fundraising, asset allocation and portfolio management activities for the Private Equity Group. He is a member of the Private Equity Investment Committee and the 50 South Capital Investment Committee. Additionally, Brad is a member of the 50 South Capital Giving Council as well as the 50 South Capital Diversity Council.

Brad was previously an investment professional at Mercantile Capital Partners, a venture capital and growth equity fund located in Northbrook, Illinois. Prior to Mercantile, he spent five years at Heller Financial, a middle-market commercial finance company which was later acquired by General Electric. At Heller, he was an Assistant Vice President in the Corporate Finance Group, Heller Business Credit, and Heller’s Workout Group. He began his career in Heller’s Finance Management Development Program.

Brad is a member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association and sits on several fund advisory boards. He currently serves on the Governing Board of Girls on the Run-Chicago. Brad graduated with High Honors from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with a degree in finance and received his MBA with Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Chris Gaffney, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Great Hill Partners

Chris Gaffney is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Great Hill Partners, where he is responsible for investment policy, investor relations and the general management of the firm. Chris is also a member of the firm’s executive and investment committees. Throughout the course of his over 37-year career in private equity, Chris has participated in investments covering a range of industries, including software, robotics and AI, information services, e-commerce, consumer and online services, financial technology, digital publishing, among others. Chris has served on over 50 boards from early-stage companies to publicly traded businesses with multiple investments grown from seed stage to unicorn status.