Ted Field, Chairman and CEO of ARTISTdirect, Inc., today announced that Fredric M. Roberts, President of the investment banking firm F. M. Roberts & Company, Inc. and former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), has joined the Company’s Board of Directors, expanding membership of the Board to ten.
Mr. Roberts has over 30 years of experience as an investment banker and strategic advisor. Before establishing F. M. Roberts & Company, Inc., he was a Corporate Finance Executive at Lehman Brothers, Vice President of Corporate Finance at Loeb, Rhoades & Co., Vice President of Corporate Finance at E.F. Hutton & Co., and Director of Corporate Finance at Cantor, Fitzgerald & Co., Inc.
Mr. Roberts served as 1993 Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (“NASD”), which owns and operates the Nasdaq Stock Market. From 1994 to 1996, he was a member of the Nasdaq Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. He has also been the Chairman of the NASD’s Corporate Financing and Strategic Planning Committees and the Nasdaq Marketing Committee, as well as a member of the National Nominating, Rate Formulation and Listing Qualifications Committees. Since 1984, he has served on various other committees, including Chairman of the National Business Conduct Committee, and Chairman of NASD District 2 Business Conduct Committee.
Mr. Roberts is also a Director of Cost Plus, Inc., a leading specialty retailer of casual home furnishings and entertaining products.
“Fred Roberts has extraordinary experience as an investment banker who has seen the ups and downs of many business cycles,” said Field. “He has served as a valuable advisor to the Company in the past and we are thrilled to have him join our board so that he can play a more active role in the growth of ARTISTdirect.”
“I am excited to join the Board of ARTISTdirect,” said Roberts. “The Company has great potential and I look forward to working with Ted, his management team and my fellow directors to chart a successful course.”
