Executive Management

Ann Fandozzi joined Ritchie Bros. in 2020 as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Ritchie Bros., Ms. Fandozzi was CEO of ABRA Auto Body and Glass from 2016 to 2019, and previously to that role, from 2012 to 2016, was CEO of vRide, a carpooling platform that works with private and public employers. Prior to these CEO roles, Ms. Fandozzi served in several executive positions for Whirlpool, including eBusiness, Direct-to-Consumer, and Sears/Kenmore. Ms. Fandozzi joined Whirlpool from DaimlerChrysler, where she led the Global Family Vehicle business and is credited with the invention and development of the Stow-N-Go fold flat seats.

Earlier in her career, she gained significant experience in consumer marketing, product development and engineering at Ford Motor Company, McKinsey & Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Ms. Fandozzi served on the board of Pinnacle Foods, a publicly traded packaged food company that was acquired by ConAgra, and now serves on the boards of directors of both Ghost Robotics, a robotics start-up, and Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), a hardware, software and services technology company, she is also a member of their compensation committee. Ms. Fandozzi is also a frequent speaker on technology, transportation, and green/environmental topics.

Ms. Fandozzi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jim Kessler was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective May 11, 2020 and was promoted to President & Chief Operating Officer in September of 2021. Mr. Kessler has held various leadership positions in his career including those of President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. He acted as Chief Operating Officer of Abra Auto Body and Glass, where he oversaw operations, procurement and growth initiatives which led to the merger of the first national collision repair provider in the United States. He also held a variety of senior leadership positions at Caliber Collision, vRide and Pep Boys. Most recently, Mr. Kessler served as President of Emerging Business for Caliber Collision during which he focused on evaluating and scaling businesses that would complement collision repair services.

Mr. Kessler holds an undergraduate degree and MBA from Saint Joseph's University.

Eric Jacobs joined Ritchie Bros. in June of 2022 as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Jacobs brings extensive senior executive leadership experience in digital marketplaces to Ritchie Bros. Most recently, Mr. Jacobs served as Chief Financial Officer at Wheels Up Experience Inc., an industry-leading marketplace for private aviation. Prior to Wheels Up, Mr. Jacobs served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development of Cox Automotive, Inc. and Executive Vice President, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer of Dealertrack Technologies, Inc., collectively, the largest marketplace and leading provider of SaaS solutions to the U.S. retail automotive industry. Mr. Jacobs also served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel of Dealertrack and President of Dealertrack Canada. In addition to Dealertrack, the Cox Automotive group includes brands such as Manheim Auctions, Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. Prior to Dealertrack, Mr. Jacobs was an attorney focusing on corporate mergers & acquisitions and securities law at O'Melveny & Myers LLP and an audit manager at KPMG LLP.

Mr. Jacobs holds a J.D. with honors from Rutgers School of Law-Newark and a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from Rider University.

Carmen Thiede was appointed as the Chief Transformation & People Officer in September of 2022.  Prior to her new role, Ms. Thiede was the Company’s Chief People Officer since August of 2021 and, prior to that, the Chief Human Resources Officer beginning in April of 2020.  Ms. Thiede brings significant experience to the Company gained during her impressive career in human resources leadership across diverse industries including automotive, financial and technological services at RBC, Ameriprise Financial Services, Regis Corporation (where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer & SVP, Premium Salon Operations from 2013 to 2017), ABRA Auto Body and Glass (where she served as Chief People Officer from 2017 to 2019), and SnapAV (where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer from 2019 to 2020). 

Ms. Thiede has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Economics from St. Olaf College and a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management

Baron Concors was appointed as Chief Information Officer (CIO) effective March 23, 2020 and was promoted to Chief Product and Technology Officer in November of 2022. Mr. Concors held various leadership positions in his career including CIO of Yum Brands where he was responsible for Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut information technology in over 120 countries, and Chief Digital Officer for Pizza Hut, where he led digital transformation for the global business. He also held a variety of leadership positions at FedEx, Deloitte and Touche LLP, and Ernst and Young LLP. Most recently, Mr. Concors served as CIO at ABRA Auto Body and Glass, a leading national vehicle collision repair company, where he helped transform the customer experience through technology. He was named by Computerworld Magazine as one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders in the world and Forbes Magazine named the Pizza Hut iPhone application the #1 branded mobile application of the year. Mr. Concors serves on the board of Bibliotheca and Punchh.

Mr. Concors graduated from the University of Texas-Arlington and earned his MBA from the University of Tennessee.

Jeff Jeter is the Company’s Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to joining Ritchie Bros., Mr. Jeter was President, IronPlanet leading IronPlanet's US and international sales and new business planning activities, including identifying strategic initiatives and driving new market launch initiatives.

Mr. Jeter has also served as Senior Principal at PRTM Management Consultants, where he helped lead PRTM's customer experience consulting for Fortune 1000 companies. Prior to PRTM, he was Senior Vice President of Marketing for Manugistics Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANU), where he executed global marketing strategies and managed the company's new business development and sales operations initiatives. Mr. Jeter has 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, and international business, including two international assignments for Iomega, a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) and leader in innovative storage and network security solutions for small businesses, home offices and consumers.

Mr. Jeter holds a B.A. from Wake Forest University and an M.B.A. from Mercer University.

An engineer by trade, Matt Ackley has led product development and marketing organizations for a number of major brands, such as eBay and Google—known disrupters of traditional industries. In his seven-plus years at eBay, Mr. Ackley focused on revenue and demand generation, including strategic partnerships, seller tools, developer platforms, and internet marketing and advertising, where he was the Vice President of that group for five years.

Mr. Ackley's tenure at eBay and his expertise in understanding online marketplaces was focused on driving value for both sellers and buyers. After eBay, he was Managing Director, Media and Platform Market Development, at Google. At Google he focused on product marketing and strategic development activities for Google's search and online advertising products such as DoubleClick Search, Google Analytics and YouTube.

Now at Ritchie Bros., Mr. Ackley is responsible for core digital activities across the company's brands.

Mr. Ackley has an M.B.A. from Harvard and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Duke University

Kevin Geisner was appointed as Chief Strategy Officer, effective August 10, 2020, responsible for Corporate Strategy, Analytics, and Corporate Development. Mr. Geisner brings leadership experience from his most recent role as Chief Strategy Officer of Abra Auto Body and Glass. Over his career, he has held a diverse set of roles across strategy consulting, marketplaces, aerospace, entertainment, and finance including roles at McKinsey and Company, Amazon, Xbox (Microsoft), Lockheed Martin, and General Electric.

Mr. Geisner holds an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School and Master of Science degrees in Engineering Management and Electrophysics from Drexel University.

Sharon Driscoll joined Ritchie Bros. in July 2015 as Chief Financial Officer, following 17 years of senior executive experience at companies such as Rexall Pharmacies Canada (Katz Group Canada), Sears Canada Inc. and Loblaw Companies Limited. Ms. Driscoll also served as Interim Co-CEO for Ritchie Bros. during a managed CEO transition in 2019. During her tenure as CFO, the company completed several significant acquisitions including Xcira, Mascus, RBFS, IronPlanet, Rouse, and Smart Equip. In October 2021, Ms. Driscoll announced her intention to retire within two years and in June of 2022, with the appointment of Eric Jacobs as Chief Financial Officer, she transitioned to her new role as Executive Vice President and Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Ritchie Bros., Ms. Driscoll was Executive Vice President and CFO at Katz Group Canada Ltd., where she was responsible for all financial operations, including capital allocation, financing strategies, treasury operations, regulatory compliance, risk management and financial talent development. Prior to Katz Group, Ms. Driscoll was Senior Vice President and CFO of Sears Canada Inc., one of Canada's largest retailers.

Ms. Driscoll is a Chartered Professional Accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Queen’s University.  She also serves as a Director and Audit Committee Chair of Empire Company Limited (TSX:EMP.A.)

Darren Watt joined the Company in 2004 as in-house legal counsel. In 2012, Mr. Watt was promoted to Vice President Legal Affairs, and in 2013 was appointed General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. On August 29, 2016, Mr. Watt was promoted to Senior Vice President & General Counsel and to Chief Legal Officer in April of 2023. Prior to joining the Company Mr. Watt practiced with McCarthy Tétrault LLP (1998 − 2004) as an Associate lawyer in the area of Corporate Finance & Securities.

Mr. Watt is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and holds a Law Degree from the University of British Columbia, as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree (International Relations) from the University of Toronto.

Gary McArdle has over 35 years of experience in the auction, liquidation and appraisal industry and was a founding principal of Rouse Services, the construction equipment industry's leading information services provider, who brought his expertise to Ritchie Bros. upon the acquisition of Rouse Services in December 2020. He was instrumental in the creation and growth of Rouse Services, culminating with the role of EVP, Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for the overall direction of the organization and leading the development, coordination, and execution of Rouse's business strategy.

Before the founding of Rouse Services, Mr. McArdle held operational and financial leadership roles for Great American Auctioneers & Liquidators and served as a Liquidation & Appraisals Analyst at Alco Capital.

Mr. McArdle studied Accounting at University of Southern California and University of California, Riverside, and previously worked in the tax practice at Coopers & Lybrand in Los Angeles, CA.

Karl Werner, Chief Business Development Officer, partners across the global Ritchie Bros.’ network with sales and operations teams, leading the deal management, valuations and sourcing teams to align with global opportunities.  Prior to his brief hiatus from the Company from 2021 to 2023, Karl served as President, International from 2017 to 2021, during which time he led Ritchie Bros.' growing international business unit that included Europe, the Middle East, LATAM, India, Africa, Australia and Asia Pacific.  Karl also served as interim Co-CEO of the Company from October 2019 to January 2020.  Karl joined the Company in 1996 as Territory Manager for the Olympic Peninsula and Alaska. In 1999 he was appointed to Regional Manager for the Northwest US and in 2004 transferred to the Company’s corporate head office as Senior Manager, Strategic Projects. In 2005 he was appointed to Divisional Manager, Auction Operations. In 2008 he was appointed to VP of Auction Operations until October 2013, when he became Chief Auction Operations Officer. In 2014, he took on the additional responsibilities of Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa and India. Mr. Werner came to the Company after 10 years of operating a heavy-haul transport company. He has a strong background in real estate development and operations management. Mr. Werner sits on advisory boards for various strategic partners.