Our Team

• David (Chip) W. Unsworth, Jr.: Chairman
  and CEO

  Mr. Unsworth has a long history of success as an investment banker, corporate finance strategist and financial services entrepreneur. A co-founder of Legend in 2002, he provides the strategic vision and commitment to client service that has fueled the bank’s rapid growth in recent years. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Unsworth served as a founding partner and owner of the San Francisco capital markets group of Broadmark Capital. He played a key role in the expansion of Broadmark's banking, asset management and distribution businesses, which raised more than $300 million in private equity, primarily for venture stage companies. Prior to Broadmark, Mr. Unsworth was SVP and owner at Gilford Securities for six years, handling High-Net-Worth, institutional equity and fixed income accounts. He held similar positions with Gruntal & Co. and Oppenheimer & Co. Throughout his career, Mr. Unsworth has been an active advisor to early-stage companies in both public and private markets. He has also helped create shareholder value in public companies by spearheading re-capitalizations, proxy contests, and corporate strategy changes alongside owners and managers. Mr. Unsworth graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island. He holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 Registrations.

• Tom Gallagher: President & COO

  Mr. Gallagher manages day-to-day operations, major engagements and special projects for Legend, drawing upon his extensive experience as a senior banker with financial institutions such as Wachovia, Oppenheimer & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase. His focus includes integrating Legend’s well-known SPAC practice with its growing vertical banking and M&A capabilities. During his career, Mr. Gallagher has advised governments, CEOs, and investors on the aerospace and defense industry while leading more than 150 successful merger, acquisition and financing transactions. He joined Legend in 2006 as Head of M&A after retiring from Wachovia Capital Markets LLC, where he led the aerospace and defense investment banking practice. He held similar investment banking leadership positions at CIBC-Oppenheimer Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase in New York. Mr. Gallagher began his career in finance as an investment analyst at Provident National Bank in 1975. He earned his BA degree (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA degree from the Wharton School. He holds Series 7, 24 and 63 Registrations.

• Samuel F. Ottensoser, Managing Director & General Counsel

  Since 2004, Mr. Ottensoser has served as Legend’s General Counsel, drawing upon over 30 years of experience as a capital markets attorney focusing on corporate financing transactions. Prior to joining Legend, Mr. Ottensoser represented both issuers and underwriters and has structured and negotiated IPO’s, secondary offerings, private placements, PIPES and mergers and acquisition transactions as a senior and managing partner at several New York law firms. He has represented clients in front of the SEC, FINRA, foreign and other such regulatory authorities. Mr. Ottensoser received his BA from Yeshiva University and his JD from Harvard Law School.

• Thomas D. Masterson: Managing Director and Co-Head of Syndicate

  Since joining the firm in early 2005, Mr. Masterson has helped spearhead the firm’s presence in the SPAC market - including the sourcing, structuring, placement, and daily institutional trading of SPACs. He has been involved with the distribution of financial products and investment services since 1990 with firms including UBS, Lehman Brothers and Raymond James Financial Services. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. He holds Series 7, 24 and 63 Registrations.

• James Palmer: Managing Director & Co-Head of Syndicate

  Mr. Palmer has over 16 years of experience originating and funding early, mid and late stage private equity and venture capital transactions in several industries. Through his network of institutions and Ultra-High-Net-Worth individuals he has structured and raised close to $1 billion in capital for entities including public and private companies, hedge funds, venture funds and structured finance products. In addition to his responsibilities at Legend, Mr. Palmer is a Managing Member of the TW 8701 Opportunities Fund I and the TW Opportunities Fund II, both early/mid stage venture capital and private equity funds that have invested in approximately 25 companies. Mr. Palmer founded these funds while serving as a Managing Director at Trautman Wasserman & Co. (“TW”), a money management/private equity firm that invests in alternative assets. Mr. Palmer spent five years at TW building its West Coast Corporate Finance Group. Prior to that he was a Managing Director of an NYSE investment bank where he had more than nine years of experience managing over $400 million dollars for High-Net-Worth individuals and small institutions in both public and private investment vehicles. Mr. Palmer received a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Rollins College. He holds Series 7 and 63 Registrations.

• Sean Gambino: Managing Director & Head of Trading

  Mr. Gambino’s extensive experience and industry-wide recognition help make Legend’s trading desk a best-of-class resource for major institutional investors. He joins Legend from BGC Partners LP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald. As Head of Equities there he was in charge of all equity trading and developed trading programs and a research product. Mr. Gambino began his Wall Street career with Morgan Stanley & Co. in the firm’s Private Client Services division, where he won the prestigious National Sales Director Award given to the firm’s top one percent of brokers. He was also a founding partner of the hedge fund Gold Coast Partners LP, served as a senior equity trader for Opus Funds and worked for Jefferies & Co., where he led Jefferies Direct on the floor of the NYSE focusing on institutional executions for major US funds. Mr. Gambino attended the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, where he studied corporate finance and global economics. He is a regular contributor to Trader Monthly Magazine, has been featured on such media outlets as CNBC and is a member of the Security Traders Association of New York. Mr. Gambino holds Series 7, 25, 31, 55 and 63 Registrations.

• Bradley W. McGowan, Managing Director

  Brad McGowan is responsible for deal sourcing & business development for Legend’s Investment Banking Division. Mr. McGowan conducts outreach and builds relationships with institutional investors, Private Equity Groups, Venture Capital Firms and strategic corporate buyers/sellers. Mr. McGowan has over 20 years of financial services and investment banking experience at Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and UBS. Prior to joining Legend, he was a Managing Director at Jefferies & Co. and worked closely with its subsidiaries including the Aerospace, Defense & Homeland Security group (Quarterdeck Investment Partners), Broadview, the Technology Banking Group, and the Biotech Banking Group. Throughout his career, Mr. McGowan has been an active adviser to small, emerging growth companies. He is a founding partner of MLI Ventures which provides strategic advisory, management and business development assistance to seed and early-stage companies with an emphasis in the technology, security, and biotech / life sciences field, while utilizing the resources at New Jersey Institute of Technology, UMDNJ, and his network at Stevens Institute of Technology and also at Rutgers University -- all major hubs of technology, bio-engineering, and designated Centers for U.S. Homeland Security. Mr. McGowan earned an Executive MBA in Finance at the Stern Business School at New York University (NYU) in 1998 and served as his class president two years in a row. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Lehigh University in 1987. Mr. McGowan is currently a member of the Alumni Board of Trustees of Lehigh University. Mr. McGowan holds Series 7, 63 and 65 Registrations.

• Mark Sauter, Managing Director

  Mr. Sauter specializes in leading complex M&A transactions to successful completion and supports Legend’s SPAC, security, bio-med and technology practices. He also helps clients of the firm’s Convergent Security Group increase the value of their enterprises by improving their strategies, raising capital and making acquisitions. Mr. Sauter previously served as COO of the Chesapeake Innovation Center, a public-private security technology partnership where his expertise in venture financing, growth strategies and the security market helped member companies win substantial financing, major contracts and profitable exits. His analysis of the security market includes co-authoring widely-quoted white papers and McGraw-Hill’s leading university textbook: “Homeland Security: A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing and Surviving Terrorism.” Mr. Sauter’s experience includes serving as a senior executive at several venture capital-backed companies; principal investigator/program manager for a contract with a major U.S. intelligence agency; and an Army officer in infantry and special forces units. Mr. Sauter is a graduate of Harvard University, magna cum laude, and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He holds Series 7 and 63 Registrations.

• Scott L. Greiper: Managing Director & Head of the Convergent Security Group (CSG)

  Mr. Greiper leads the CSG, a specialized banking practice that works with companies in the homeland security technology market. The group’s mandate is to identify, back and build next-generation market leaders in the sector. CSG provides growth capital, M&A, strategic advisory and business development services to its client companies. Prior to joining Legend, Mr. Greiper was a Principal and Senior Research Analyst for C. E. Unterberg, Towbin, covering the Global Security sector. He was a top-ranked analyst (his research recommendations yielded an average return of 26.8%) and he became one of the leading thought leaders in the security sector. He began his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert before becoming a senior technology analyst at S. G. Warburg. Mr. Greiper attended the Executive MBA program at Columbia University and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from The University of Chicago. Mr. Greiper’s domain expertise includes surveillance, detection, incident response, data analytics, asset tracking and network security. He is frequently quoted in the media and invited to speak at security technology conferences across the country. Mr. Greiper holds Series 7 and 63 Registrations.

• Peter R. Serra, Vice President

  Mr. Serra is responsible for origination and evaluation of new opportunities for the firm and provides deep financial analysis, transaction management and due diligence expertise to client engagements. As a former Senior Analyst with a Fortune 500 Company, KeySpan Corporation / National Grid, Mr. Serra filled a leadership role in the company’s Asset Acquisition & Development Group and was responsible for financial modeling and analysis for structuring acquisitions, divestitures, and development of more than $5 billion of strategic assets. Prior to that, Mr. Serra worked in KeySpan’s Capital Markets Group, where he supported approximately $13 billion of mixed financing activities, including debt and equity offerings and redemptions, hybrid capital, tax-exempt financing, bank syndicated loans, facilities leasing, and derivatives. Mr. Serra has a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Finance from St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, New York, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and an MBA in Financial Management from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University, also with honors. Mr. Serra holds Series 7, 24 and 63 Registrations.