Biography
J. Armand Musey, CFA

J. Armand Musey is a financial and strategy consultant who built a successful career on Wall Street while pursuing his dream of climbing the highest mountains on the seven continents on the globe. He has completed his goal of climbing the Seven Summits with his ascent of Mt. Everest in May of 2008. Mr. Armand began climbing as a novice in 1991, and although he climbed several peaks in South America following graduation from business school, he put pursuit of the activity on hold when he went to work as an investment banker on Wall Street.

Armand specializes in the satellite, media and telecommunications industries, and soon became the lead analyst covering the industry for Bank of America, and later Solomon Smith Barney. In 2003, he helped establish Near Earth LLC, a boutique investment bank specializing in the satellite, media and telecom industries. He left his position as president of Near Earth in 2007 to train for his dream of climbing Mt. Everest. As president/founder of Summit Ridge Group, LLC, he continues to work on consulting projects and is a regular speaker at major satellite industry conferences. Armand is frequently quoted in satellite trade publications and by major national publications as an expert in satellite finance and corporate governance.

Armand climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 2002 and in addition to Mt. Everest has since the rest of the “Seven Summit” including Mt. McKinley (AKA “Denali”) in Alaska, Mt. Elbrus in Russia, Acconcagua in Argentina, Mt. Rainer in Washington, Mt. Vinson Antarctica, and the Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. As part of his training for the cold weather of Mt. Everest, he went on a ski expedition to the South Pole in 2007, dealing with -30 to -35 deg C weather almost the whole way. He has also climbed variety of other peaks in the US and Europe.

When he is not climbing, Armand spends quite a bit of time in school. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and Northwestern University Law School. He also holds an MA in Modern European Studies from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Chicago. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of the New York Society of Securities Analysts where he chaired the Corporate Governance Committee (2007-2009) and the CFA Society of Chicago.

Armand is also an extensive reader of continental philosophy, a member of the board of directors of the Riverside Symphony (2008-2011) and previously the treasurer of the board of directors of the Foucault Society (2004-2009) a non-profit organization devoted to providing philosophy educational events.