Our Team
CTFN was born out of the desire to meet the need for quality reporting on major corporate events. We are committed to excellent journalism and strive to meet our readers' unique demand for timely information by employing intrepid and experienced reporters and analysts who share our core values of integrity and a desire to seek the truth.
Jonathan Spitzer
CEO
Jonathan founded CTFN to provide quality news on major corporate actions and regulatory events. CTFN's mission is to provide insights for analysts, portfolio managers, deal professionals, regulators, and corporate executives who seek news and analysis with context and perspective. Jonathan previously was a merger arbitrage analyst at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers, as well as co-portfolio manager of the merger arbitrage funds at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder (First Eagle Investment Management). He earned a BA from Yale College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and an MBA from Columbia Business School (Beta Gamma Sigma).
Reuben Miller
Executive Editor
Reuben Miller manages all aspects of CTFN's content production and leads our newsroom in information gathering. Reuben also sits on the company's Strategy & Operations Committee and works closely with other senior management to identify new opportunities, manage the proper deployment of resources and ensure the publication is meeting its readers standards. He has been an invaluable leader of the publication's coverage since 2019 and has recruited,trained and mentors the majority of our staff.Reuben is a seasoned reporter and editor with 15 years of experience developing investor-oriented news products. He ran the Washington DC bureau for a division of the Financial Times Group, launched ReOrg's event-driven product, and was a research director at a financial services firm. He has also worked on Capitol Hill, at a boutique law firm, and as a firefighter in the Oregon wilderness. He holds a BA in political science from Lewis & Clark College.
Melissa Walker
General Counsel and Director of Compliance
Melissa is a securities lawyer and compliance professional who has focused her practice on representing clients in securities litigation matters, including insider trading, market timing, the Investment Company Act of 1940, earnings management, and corporate governance. Previously, Melissa worked at Ropes & Gray, LLP in Washington, D.C., and New York. She holds a J.D. from George Washington University Law School, where she was a member of The George Washington Law Review, and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in Journalism and Political Science.
Kara Sullivan
Director of Engagement
Kara joined CTFN to support sales and marketing initiatives. She spent seven years in distribution sales and marketing for A&E Television Networks, and more than five years in account management, at several advertising and branding agencies in NYC and CT. Kara seeks to forge a partnership with CTFN readers so that understanding their evolving needs remains a top priority. She is a graduate of Smith College.
Stephen Velgot
Director of Research
Stephen has more than 20 years of experience as a research analyst. He started an event driven research product at Renaissance Macro Research, after covering risk arbitrage at ICAP and event driven situations at Susquehanna and Cathay Financial. Stephen has an MBA in Finance from New York University and a BS in Operations Research from Cornell University.
Greg Falkowski
Director of Operations
Greg has 15 years experience working in financial news and data at the Mergermarket Group (Acuris) in New York, where he built and managed large structured and unstructured data sets and designed customized products that identified trading opportunities. Greg has experience collaborating with commercial teams to provide consultative account support, hiring and supervising remote research teams, and improving data management processes and systems. He earned a BA in Finance from Wake Forest University. Greg will move into a role at CTFN as a reader advocate, working to ensure the best user experience for our valued subscribers.
Team Members
Our growing team of journalists has decades of investigative reporting experience and is supported by multiple seasoned and well-researched analysts.
Michael Bow
European Commission and UK Competition and Markets Authority Reporter
Michael is based in Brussels and previously spent 10 years in London writing about the City. He was City Correspondent at the Evening Standard between 2015 and 2020 covering insurance, fund management, and the M&A beat. Before that he wrote for daily free sheet City A.M. covering private equity and hedge funds and began his financial reporting career in the trade press writing about institutional pensions for Incisive Media. He holds a BA from the University of Birmingham and an Msc from the University of Oxford.
Robert W. Welkos
Senior Public Utilities, FCC and Special Coverage Reporter
Bob covers utility, cable, and banking deals, and has a great skill for understanding the nuances of state regulatory processes. Bob was a 20-year veteran reporter for the Los Angeles Times and shared in two Pulitzer Prizes awarded to the newspaper's metro staff. He has reported on numerous state and federal trials and served as the Times entertainment industry legal affairs writer covering Hollywood and the law. Bob was also a correspondent for the Associated Press. He is based in Los Angeles.
Saniya Rao
M&A and Telecom Policy Reporter
Saniya Rao is a graduate of the Master of Professional Studies in Journalism program at Georgetown University, prior to which she did her undergraduate studies in communications, literature, and psychology. Her work experience includes interning in social media for Agence France-Presse, working as a breaking news copywriter for Republic World in Mumbai, and as reporting intern with The Economic Times in Bengaluru. Saniya covers key aspects of telecom policy for CTFN from Washington, DC.
Collin Harvel
Policy Risk Correspondent & Product Team Member
Collin covers political, regulatory, and litigation risks at the state and federal levels. Prior to joining CTFN, he worked as an investment analyst covering the financial services, payments, and tobacco and cannabis industries. Collin's strong understanding of parliamentary processes, legislative drivers, and market-based policy impacts enables him to effectively synthesize crucial information and communicate it to readers in an actionable way. Collin received a BA in International Relations from American University and studied Russian Language and Culture at Middlebury College.
Natasha Snyder
Senior Healthcare Markets Correspondent
Natasha's role at CTFN is a senior healthcare correspondent, covering relevant legislative, regulatory, and political catalysts at the federal and state level across a variety of healthcare sub-sectors. Prior to joining CTFN, Natasha was a policy analyst at FiscalNote where she covered an array of issues for investors including provider and payer payment systems, drug pricing, and digital health. Previously, she held a senior healthcare analyst position at the Marwood Group in Washington, DC. Natasha received her BA from Vanderbilt University.
Alex Wilts
Senior Regulatory Reporter & DC Bureau Chief
Based in Washington, DC, Alex covers merger enforcement developments at the DOJ's antitrust division, the FTC, and national security reviews conducted by CFIUS. Prior to joining CTFN, she oversaw coverage of US antitrust news for Global Competition Review. Alex has also written for several different outlets, including Reuters, Reorg, and The Independent. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2015 with degrees in marketing and journalism.
Deane McRobie
Senior UK/Europe Pre-Event and Special Situations Reporter
Deane came to CTFN from Mergermarket and its affiliated publications Dealreporter, Activistmonitor, and PaRR. He has served as editor of Activistmonitor, and his reporting has focused on the consumer, retail and leisure sectors, including scoops on such megadeals as AB InBev's acquisition of SABMiller, British American Tobacco's purchase of Reynolds American, and EssilorLuxottica's bid for Grandvision. Originally from Canada, he graduated from McGill University with a degree in political science and East Asian language studies.
Graham Riss
Research Analyst
Graham Riss is a research analyst with a broad interest and understanding of the financial markets, and enjoys analyzing various industries. He has been training with CTFN's Director of Research and editors since August of 2021. Graham currently has an associates degree from NCC and is working towards receiving a bachelors in finance.
