Gerry Byrne

Vice Chairman, PMC (Penske Media Corp)

PMC owns leading entertainment, fashion, art and digital media brands that include Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Vibe, Deadline Hollywood, IndieWire, TVLine, WWD, She Knows Media, Sportico, The Robb Report and Art in America. Additionally, PMC owns controlling interest in the Austin, Texas based cultural festival, South by Southwest (SXSW).  Byrne’s decades of accomplishments as a media executive, entrepreneur and community leader are highlighted by a long run as publisher of Variety where he dramatically transformed that business into a powerful, diversified, global media brand.  The start-up publisher of both Electronic Media and Crain’s New York Business, Byrne also successfully created The Quill Awards for NBC before he led a division of Nielsen that included The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Adweek and Backstage.  

A staunch believer in “participation”, Mr. Byrne is on the boards of numerous not-for-profits including Fisher House (Executive Committee), The Intrepid Museum, The USO, Veterans Advantage  (Advisory Board), The Bob Woodruff Foundation, The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research, Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Plaza, The Creative Coalition, The Hamptons International Film Festival (Chairman, Advisory Board), The Gotham Media Institute, The John A. Reisenbach Foundation (Chairman Emeritus), and The Armory Foundation.  He is also on the U. S. Advisory Council of the IESE Business School (University of Navarra in Barcelona), the Advisory Board of the Fordham University Gabelli School and the Board of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In November 2012, Mr. Byrne also launched, as Founder/Chairman, the first ever Veterans Week NYC, a series of events dedicated to honoring and supporting veterans and their families.  And in May 2017, as Founder/Chairman, Mr. Byrne launched Veterans on Campus NYC, a veteran’s support consortium comprised of all the NYC colleges and universities where veterans attend on the GI Bill.

Mr. Byrne was awarded the “Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award” at ShowEast ’96, New York’s Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center’s 2002 Distinguished Service Award and the NYPD Marine Corps Association 2002 “Semper Fi” Award for his work in the community.  And in June 2009, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented Mr. Byrne the “Made In NY” Award for his support of Gotham’s entertainment and media industries.  In November 2017, General Robert Neller, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, presented Mr. Byrne the Department of the Navy’s Meritorious Public Service Award.  And in March 2019, he was named to the Hillvets 100. Hillvets is a DC based initiative seeking to amplify the power and presence of veterans in government, policy, and politics.

Mr. Byrne is a member of The British Academy of Film & Television Arts and The New York Athletic Club.

A 1966 graduate of Fordham College, Mr. Byrne served as a Marine Officer in Vietnam in 1968/69 and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with Combat V.

Paul W. “Buddy” Bucha

Former Army Captain

Paul W. “Buddy” Bucha is a Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award that can be given to military personnel.

He received his BS in 1965, graduating academically in the top 2 percent of his West Point Class, number two in Military Order of Merit and a two-time All American and Captain of the Swim Team. Immediately upon graduation from West Point, he attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, receiving his MBA in 1967 and completing his Airborne and Ranger training between academic years. Bucha is a Jumpmaster.

After Stanford, he reported for duty with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. to prepare for deployment to Vietnam as part of Operation Eagle Thrust. On March 16, 1968, Captain Bucha was the commanding officer of a reconnaissance-in-force mission that was inserted by helicopter near Phuoc Vinh, Binh Duong Province to locate and destroy an enemy stronghold. When his men were pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire,· he crawled 40 meters through a hail of enemy fire to single-handedly destroy the bunker with grenades. For his actions, Captain Bucha received, among other decorations, the Bronze Star with V and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor. Upon his return to the U.S., he reported for assignment as Assistant Professor of Managerial Economics at West Point.

After resigning his Army commission in 1972, Bucha joined du Pont Glore Forgan as a special assistant to H. Ross Perot. He later moved to the Perot-owned Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) as Senior Vice President of International Operations, expanding EDS operations throughout the Middle East and Europe. In 1978, Bucha formed his own international consulting company, Paul W. Bucha and Company, Inc. (PWBCO), and expanded to real estate development, building among other projects, the environmentally acclaimed developments Port Liberte on New York Harbor and The Meads in the Back Bay of Boston.

Bucha actively is involved in national security and veterans’ issues. He is a frequent lecturer to military and business leaders of all aspects on honor and leadership. He has been a member of the Board and an officer of The Fisher House Foundation and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund which support military families and wounded warriors. He is active in a variety of veteran organizations including the U.S. Army Ranger Association and the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Vietnam Veterans of America and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Foundation. Bucha is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He has four children and 9 grandchildren, and lives in Ridgefield, CT, with his wife, Cynthia.

Kevin Ainsworth

Member / Co-Chair, Cross-Border Asset Recovery Practice

Kevin is a Member in Mintz’s Litigation Section and Co-Chair of the firm’s Cross Border Asset Recovery Practice. He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and representing clients in a diverse set of industries, including institutional investors, retail & consumer brands, and manufacturing. He has particular expertise in representing large institutional investors, including banks, financial services firms, and other stakeholders in complex global asset recovery cases with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Clients also rely on his legal experience and unique skillset to enforce and collect international arbitration awards. He also represents clients in mediations and arbitrations. With extensive experience as a court-appointed mediator, Kevin has a keen ability to see all sides of a dispute and to navigate toward an efficient outcome.

Kevin also skillfully litigates patent and trademark disputes for clients in the retail & consumer brands, technology, and manufacturing industries. Through his representation, Kevin has protected the intellectual property of some of the world’s largest brands as well as startup companies developing their rights. Most recently, he secured an extremely rare preliminary injunction on behalf of Spin Master Ltd., a toy manufacturer, in a contentious patent infringement case.

He graduated cum laude from Fordham University School of Law, was editor-in-chief of the Fordham Urban Law Journal, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Kevin clerked for the Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy, US District Judge, during the trial and conviction of international terrorist Ramzi Yousef.

Kevin served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1986 to 1991 and has long been an avid and active supporter of veterans’ causes. He is on the board of directors of Warriors Rise, Inc., and the Warrior Ranch Foundation. He served as director and general counsel to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation from 2013 to 2019, and served as a director and general counsel of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation from 2011 to 2016. He also has appeared on television nationally numerous times as a spokesperson for the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Kevin has competed in the NYC Triathlon seven times and, in 2019, placed in the top 10 in his age group in the Spartan Race Super in Hawaii.