G. Staley Cates is an investment executive with over 35 years of industry experience. He is the Vice-Chairman of Southeastern Asset Management, an independently owned global investment management firm, and sits on its Executive Committee.
Southeastern serves as the investment advisor to Longleaf Partners' family of mutual and UCITS funds. Staley holds co-portfolio managerial responsibility for Longleaf Partners, Small-Cap, International, Global and Longleaf Global UCITS Funds. Southeastern also advises institutional accounts including endowments, foundations, public and private retirement funds.
As a host of the firm's Price-to-Value Podcast series, Staley leads discussions on some of today's most important industry topics. He has welcomed numerous business leaders to the series, including Larry Culp, Chairman and CEO of GE, FedEx Founder & CEO Fred Smith and Chairman & CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, Prem Watsa.
Staley has a wide range of charitable interests, with a focus on education, youth engagement and the arts. He is Chairman of the Poplar Foundation, which provides support for numerous youth services and educational initiatives in Memphis, and is Co-Founder of New Hope Christian Academy, a college-preparatory elementary school. He is also a founding board member of the Soulsville Foundation, which keeps the memory of the influential Stax Records alive by preserving its rich cultural legacy and utilizing its former space as a place for local artists to pursue their talents.
He played an integral role in bringing the NBA’s Grizzlies to Memphis, after which he served as a Founding Chairman of the Memphis Grizzlies Foundation. Launched in 2004, the foundation supports underprivileged and at-risk children through mentoring and education. Staley also led the redevelopment of Sears Crosstown, which had stood empty for nearly 20 years, into Crosstown Concourse.
Staley earned a BA in Business Administration from the University of Texas.
