Craige L. Stout serves as CEO and Managing Director of Stout Risius Ross. His experience is broad and diverse in the fields of investment banking, litigation and valuation advisory. In addition to his experience in providing transaction advisory services, Mr. Stout's litigation and valuation experience encompass a wide range of industries and has been performed for numerous purposes, including fairness and solvency opinions, estate and gift taxation, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, damage analyses, marital dissolution, shareholder disputes, condemnation, bankruptcy and reorganization, purchase price allocation, purchase and sale advisement, allocation and apportionment of interest expense (IRC section 864(e)), Subchapter C to Subchapter S conversions, and other tax and corporate related matters. Mr. Stout has worked on more than 1,000 assignments and has served numerous industries, including agriculture, aluminum recycling, automobile retailing, automotive, biotechnology, computer hardware and software, death care, entertainment, financial services, fast food franchising, furniture manufacturing, graphics and printing, health care, manufacturing, motion picture production and distribution, music recording and publishing, professional sports franchises, retailing, scientific instrumentation, staffing, theaters, and transportation and warehousing. Mr. Stout has lectured and presented continuing education seminars on the subjects of mergers & acquisitions and valuation and has provided expert testimony in numerous jurisdictions throughout the Midwest. Moreover, Mr. Stout has provided advisory services to the Internal Revenue Service and the Michigan Department of Transportation. Mr. Stout earned an MBA in Taxation and a BA in Accounting from Michigan State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the state of Illinois. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (accredited in business valuation), Illinois CPA Society, Chicago Estate Planning Council, The Economic Club of Chicago, and a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers. He has served or is serving on numerous boards, including the Young Presidents Organization, the Financial and Estate Planning Council of Metropolitan Detroit, Inc. (Past President), Museum of Science and Industry President s Council, the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, and Junior Achievement of Chicago. He is a recipient of the Crain s 40 under 40 award and Ernst & Young s 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.