John N. Irwin III
Managing Director


Mr. Irwin is a Managing Director of The Brookside Group. Mr. Irwin co-founded The Brookside Group in 1977 and remains its lead investment officer. Mr. Irwin and his partners were pioneers in the field of leveraged buyouts starting in the late 1970s. He initially focused on the acquisition of a select number of public company divestitures and over time expanded the firms activities to include various types of leveraged buyouts. Mr. Irwin has been active in developing strategic plans, driving operational improvements, and managing numerous private and public financings for portfolio companies.

Mr. Irwin has extensive international investing experience. He has structured numerous international corporate joint investments and has managed portfolio companies with significant global operations. Mr. Irwin led one of the early privatizations in Eastern Europe and subsequently took the firm public in the Czech Republic.

Mr. Irwin also initiated The Brookside Groups expansion into other asset classes, including public markets, real estate and mezzanine. He was an early investor in hedge funds and, in 1987, was one of the initial investors in what has become a core hedge fund in the Brookside Select Managers Funds.

As the lead investor and an advisor, Mr. Irwin also helped found several successful, third-party private equity firms and real estate investment firms.

Mr. Irwin graduated from Princeton University and attended L'Institut d'Etude Politique, Paris. He is active in the non-profit sector. He is the President of the Achelis and Bodman Foundations, the President of the Fresh Air Fund and the Treasurer of the Wildlife Conservation Society.