About The CEO
Roger Neal Smith President and CEO
Roger Neal Smith, the founder of OBN Holdings, has been involved in business and financial consulting for more than twenty-five years. As the President and CEO of OBN Holdings, he is responsible for developing and directing the overall strategies of the company, and providing support to the presidents of the OBN subsidiaries. Under Mr. Smith’s guidance, OBN has become a multinational conglomerate involved in entertainment; import/export; recycling and consulting services, with offices in America, Japan and Hong Kong. Furthermore, he is currently developing plans for OBN’s expansion into Europe, the Middle East and Korea.
Mr. Smith’s experience includes providing consulting services in the areas of finance, operations and marketing to both American and Japanese private enterprises, and to the United States federal government. Prior to starting OBN Holdings, Mr. Smith served as a Financial Consultant with Smith Barney, one of the world’s largest securities firms. During that time, he was responsible for providing financial analysis, portfolio management, asset management, financial planning, investment advice, and product research services. During his tenure at the firm, Mr. Smith managed over $150 million in assets for more than 300 business and individual clients worldwide. Before working at Smith Barney, Mr. Smith was a Principal in The Creighton Group where he provided financial, strategic marketing, technology transfer and research services to both large and small businesses.
Mr. Smith also has more than ten years of experience in the entertainment industry. His entertainment experience includes working with American and Japanese companies in the areas of music, film and video. While working for Taylor Smith, Inc., a company he co-founded while living in Chicago, he was responsible for working with film writers and producers, and musicians in the development of film and television packages. He also coordinated recording projects, and functioned as an intermediary between record companies, promoters and producers.
For more than seventeen years, Mr. Smith worked for AT&T in Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles. While at AT&T, his responsibilities included functioning as an Internal Consultant in the company’s finance department. Since 1986, he has taught classes in business and ethics at various universities, including UCLA; California State University, Fullerton; California State University, Los Angeles; California State University, Northridge; California State University, Dominguez Hills; and Santa Monica College. Mr. Smith also served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Phillips Graduate Institute and was a member of the Board of Trustees for the California School of Professional Psychology.
Mr. Smith earned a Masters of Business degree from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography and design from the University of Illinois, Chicago.