William (“Billy”) Stern

His client work focuses on CEO and senior team succession planning, CEO and senior executive coaching, executive assessments (including pre‐hire or pre‐investment assessments), group learning, and board evaluations and optimization.

Prior to joining The Miles Group, Mr. Stern was the Chief Legal Officer at Ancestry.com (“ACOM”). At ACOM, Billy was responsible for ACOM’s initial public offering, secondary public offerings, domestic and international acquisitions, SEC and regulatory compliance, Board relations and communications, and other corporate matters. In addition, Billy oversaw security, privacy, and many aspects of HR and IR. He also led the legal negotiations in ACOM’s sale to an investor group led by Permira Advisors, related debt offerings and recapitalization, and subsequent sale to a consortium including Silver Lake Partners.

Prior to joining Ancestry, Billy was General Counsel at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (“MSLO”), where he represented MSLO in a wide array of licensing transactions, SEC issues, acquisitions and general corporate matters.

Prior to joining MSLO, Billy was a Principal at Fish & Richardson P.C., one of the nation’s leading intellectual property firms. Prior to that, Billy was a Corporate Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where he was also the hiring partner for the NY office.

Billy received his A.B. from Brown University in 1986, and his J.D and M.B.A. from The University of Chicago in 1992. He is admitted to practice in Utah, New York, Connecticut and Colorado.

Billy has served on the Boards of Directors of Equality Utah, the Salt Lake Area Restaurant Association, the Utah Film Center, the Pioneer Theatre Company, and SB Dance Company. Billy was an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where he taught a course entitled “the Business of Licensing.”