Global Restaurant Investment Forum

Speaker Profile

Ahmass Fakahany

CEO and Owner, Altamarea Group and Atelier House Hospitality

Mr. Ahmass L. Fakahany is the Owner and CEO of the Altamarea Group, a New York based hospitality firm, which now includes 20 restaurants across the world. He is also the CEO of its subsidiary Atelier House Hospitality, a boutique hospitality advisory and development management firm, which he founded in 2017 with offices in New York and Dubai.

In his role as CEO, Fakahany leads the organisation to harmonise its capabilities around superior client satisfaction levels; developing and delivering unique, brands and experiences from Michelin level to quality casual; and setting the highest operating standards. His core is underpinned by his global business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit, along with his intuitive grasp of where business and hospitality intersect. He acquired this deep business to client capability during his time at Merrill Lynch & Co., which culminated in becoming President and Chief Operating Officer worldwide, covering over 60,000 employees in 40 countries.

While coordinating and integrating investment banking, debt, equity and securities services to optimise performance and profitability for Merrill Lynch and its clients globally, he also took personal interest for setting the bank’s high entertaining, dining and drinking standards at board meetings and client dinners.

This intersection between business and dining supports Fakahany’s approach to emboldening small and large businesses alike, combining global perspective with local know-how. Fakahany holds an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University Questrom School of Business. (Summa Cum Laude)