Ex-Goldman Sachs exec joins ODP board

Eugene Fife is the newest member of the Office Depot board.



The office products retailer added Fife to the board after James Rubin stepped down. Rubin was required to give up his seat because of a stipulation in an investor rights agreement Office Depot struck with BC Partners in 2009 that gave the firm three board seats after it made a sizable investment. The agreement required BC Partners board members to be employed by the firm and because Rubin recently resigned from BC Partners he was no longer allowed to serve on the Office Depot board.



However, in the case of Fife, BC Partners and Office Depot made an exception. Because Fife isn’t employed by BC Partners, the firm waived the employment requirement in its investor rights agreement.



Fife will brings significant international, management and corporate governance experience to the Office Depot board at a time when the company continues to struggling against the backdrop of a challenge global economic climate.



Fife has served as the founder and managing principal of Vawter Capital LLC, a private investment firm, since December 1999 and as interim CEO and president of Eclipsys Corporation, a provider of healthcare information services, from April to November of 2005. He joined the board of directors of Eclipsys in May 1997 and served as the non-executive chairman of Eclipsys' board of directors from 2003 until 2010, when Eclipsys merged with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. From August 2010 to April 2012, Fife served as a member of the board of directors of Allscripts.



He was also formerly a partner of Goldman Sachs & Co. and served as a member of the management committee and chairman of Goldman Sachs International where he helped establish the firm’s presence in Europe, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He retired from Goldman Sachs in 1995, but continues to serve as a senior director of the firm and also serves as the presiding director of Caterpillar Inc.