Mason Alum & Entrepreneur gives $250k to School of Management
Article provided by Stacy Williams, Director,
Marketing & Communications, School of Management
Will Seippel, Worthpoint CEO, addresses the School
of Management. Picture taken by: Nicholas Tan
The George Mason University School of Management announced receipt of a major gift from successful business executive, philanthropist and alumnus Will Seippel, CEO of WorthPoint Corporation. The gift is comprised of cash, artwork and common shares of WorthPoint stock, collectively valued at $250,000. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, WorthPoint provides online services to collectors of art and antiques. Funds generated from the donation will provide broad support of School of Management programs in the National Capital Region.
In addition to his role as a benefactor, Seippel is a true School of Management success story. Seippel has been involved in successful negotiations for more than 20 business acquisitions during his career. He played a leading role in structuring complex transactions that have raised $5 billion in capital, two of which received the prestigious Institutional Investor Deal of the Year Award.
"This gift is especially appealing, and very fitting. WorthPoint Corporation, just like Mason, is a relative newcomer to its market. But both represent a fine place to invest in for the future," said School of Management Dean Richard Klimoski. "Support such as this will guarantee the continued growth of the School of Management as a top educator of the region’s future business leaders."
Dean Richard Klimoski and Associate Dean,
Undergraduate Programs, Allison O'Brien look on as
Will Seippel adresses the crowd. Picture taken by:
Nicholas Tan
Will has turned his lifelong passion about collectibles (Will is a Lionel Model Trains collector who also owns a warm-up jacket worn by slugger Mickey Mantle and several jerseys worn by major league baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan) into a business. In January 2007, Will started WorthPoint Corporation, a Web. 2.0 social networking site for both serious collectors and for anyone who has an interest in learning more about pricing the value and history of items they own. WorthPoint's Web site will launch in November, with more than 1,000,000 items in its catalog and more than 250 auction houses participating, giving collectors of antiques and other items a place to meet like-minded hobbyists by setting up profiles and uploading pictures of their collections. The site will feature "Worthologists" -- experts who write about topics such as American furniture and political memorabilia. WorthPoint will let collectors do online research themselves, or, for a small fee, access experts to help them understand the history and value of an item.
The real value to members, Will says, will be a database of historical prices he has collected through partnerships with brick-and-mortar auction houses. The company has staff in the U.S., Asia and South America, and has raised more than $2 million in early financing. "Nothing like this has ever been done in the Industry, nor been contemplated," Will says. "It is my goal to take my experience from managing some of the largest data and internet systems in the world and bring that technology to the collecting and art space. This is data intensive business that has been excluded by the technology world over the last 15 years. It is my goal to organize this data and make it available to the collector through a 2.0 platform and portal."