Richard H. Taketa (Rick) is a proven leader and value-added advisor currently working with public and private high-growth companies in the capacity of board director and/or active investor, with a focus on tech-enabled service businesses.
Rick has deep operating experience leading, growing and scaling mid-sized and large organizations. He stepped down in late 2018 from the senior operating role at York Risk Services, Inc., where he was the President and CEO. In this role, Rick had overall responsibility for all strategic, financial, operational, governance, sales, and client activities. With over $800 million in revenue and more than 5,500 employees, York grew under Rick’s leadership to be one of the leading providers of tech-enabled, integrated insurance services to the Property and Casualty insurance industry. Services included claims administration, managed care, catastrophic loss adjusting, risk control, absence management, and alternative risk pooling and captives.
In his 14 years with York and predecessor organizations, Rick was instrumental in expanding York from a regional third-party administrator into the 3rd largest P&C TPA in the US. With a personal passion for product innovation, strategic customer relationships, and market positioning, Rick led the company’s growth strategies and acquisitions. Innovations included the first vertically integrated claims and managed care service offering and one of the first commercialized AI-based machine learning models to help automate the claims adjudication process. During his tenure, York acquired over 30 businesses and sold itself three times at successively larger valuations to Odyssey Investment Partners, ABRY Partners, and Onex Partners.
Rick originally joined York after the acquisition of Southern California Risk Management Associates (SCRMA), where he was CEO. Rick and a small group of investors had acquired SCRMA two years earlier when the company had $14M in Revenue and 125 employees. Driven by rapid growth and expanded profitability, investors received MOICs ranging from 7x - 11x in two years.
Prior to York, Rick was a co-founder and managing director of a small private equity vehicle named Eventide Capital and a venture-focused corporate securities lawyer with DLA, after spending four years in Washington, D.C. During his tenure in DC, Rick helped lead non-governmental organizations to accomplish public policy goals. His diverse background gives him a unique perspective, including operations, finance, insurance and healthcare, law, innovation, M&A, public policy, and operating in regulated markets.
While at York, Rick was Chairman of York’s Board from 2014 through 2017 and led the company’s effort to market private and publicly registered debt securities. Rick currently serves as the Lead Independent Director on the Board of Directors of Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLMR) and as an Independent Director for Veritone, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERI) and Farmers and Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTC: FMBL). Current and prior board service includes private equity owned companies Aperture, Axiom Medical, MASA Global, Obsidian Specialty Insurance, Reserv, Valenz Health, and Worldwide Facilities. Rick is a member of Genstar Capital’s Strategic Advisory Board.
Rick was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the year in 2017 for the State of New Jersey and was a National Finalist in the financial services division. He has been a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and a recurring guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Rick is a member of the California Bar Association (inactive status). Rick earned his BA from Colgate University and JD from Stanford Law School, where his studies focused on securities law and corporate governance. Rick and his family reside in Newport Beach, CA, where he has served on the Board of Directors of the Hoag Hospital Foundation (former Chair), Hoag Memorial Hospital and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County.
