Mark Byrne Leaves Flagstone Board
Bermuda-based Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings, S.A. today (Dec.8) announced that Mark Byrne (pictured), Flagstone co-founder and former executive chairman, has decided to retire as a member of the company’s board of directors.
“As one of our founders and executive chairman, Mark was instrumental in establishing and building Flagstone into the company it is today,” said Daniel James, Flagstone’s chairman. “On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Mark for his service and commitment to Flagstone these past five years, and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Mr. Byrne said: “I very much appreciate the board’s thanks and gratitude and am confident that the future of Flagstone is in solid hands.”
As Mr. Byrne formally ended ties with the firm he set up in 2005, a Flagstone subsidiary agreed to buy out shares in its parent company owned by companies associated with the founding former chairman for $91.9 million. It will also spend a further $13.5 million for a warrant granted to a company associated with Mr. Byrne when Flagstone launched in Bermuda in late 2005.
Before founding Flagstone in 2005, Mr. Byrne founded and managed West End Capital Management (Bermuda) Ltd., a Bermuda investment management firm engaged primarily in fixed income arbitrage. Along with his professional staff, he managed more than $1 billion of net assets. Prior to that, Mr. Byrne served as managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston, responsible for Global Fixed Income Arbitrage in London and Tokyo. Mr. Byrne also held management positions at PIMCO and Salomon Brothers and has 20 years experience in the fixed income and derivative business. Mr. Byrne has invested at early stages in several insurance companies and has served on the boards of directors of several insurance companies, including three public companies: White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd., Terra Nova Bermuda Holding Ltd. and Markel Corp. He holds a Bachelors degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. On May 21, 2010, Mr. Byrne resigned from his position as executive chairman of the Flagstone board.
