Mr. Kaplan is a Senior Partner and Co-Head of the Private Equity Group of Ares Management LLC. Mr. Kaplan is also a founding member of Ares, where he serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. Mr. Kaplan joined Ares from Shelter Capital Partners, LLC, where he was a Senior Principal from June 2000 to April 2003. From 1991 through 2000, Mr. Kaplan was affiliated with, and a Senior Partner of, Apollo Management, L.P. and its affiliates, during which time he completed multiple private equity investments from origination through exit. Prior to Apollo Management, L.P., Mr. Kaplan was a member of the Investment Banking Department at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. Mr. Kaplan currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Directors of 99¢ Only Stores and Smart & Final Holdings, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries, and as a member of the Boards of Directors of FDO Holdings, Inc. (the indirect parent of Floor and Decor Outlets of America, Inc.) and Stream Global Services, Inc. Mr. Kaplan’s previous public company Board of Directors experience includes Maidenform Brands, Inc. where he served as the company’s Chairman, GNC Holdings, Inc., Dominick’s Supermarkets, Inc. and Allied Waste Industries Inc. Mr. Kaplan also serves on the Board of Directors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, is a Trustee of the Center for Early Education, is a Trustee of the Marlborough School and serves on the Los Angeles Advisory Council to the University of Michigan. Mr. Kaplan graduated with High Distinction, Beta Gamma Sigma, from the University of Michigan, School of Business Administration with a B.B.A. concentrating in Finance.