Lauren Odell
Partner and Chief Operating Officer
Lauren Odell manages the firm’s operations and leads strategy and execution on client engagements.
At Gladstone, Lauren has advised on a range of financial communications projects including The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets, Acceleron Pharma’s sale to Merck for $11.5 billion, Dunkin’ Brands’ $11 billion sale to Inspire Brands, Alaska Airlines’ acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion and Dell Technologies’ return to the public markets.
Lauren’s activism defense experience includes working with The Walt Disney Company on its engagements with Trian Fund Management, Third Point Management and Blackwells Capital, Illumina on its engagement with Icahn Enterprises, and PepsiCo and Griffon Corporation on their engagements, among others.
Lauren advised WeWork throughout its capital-raising, strategic repositioning, leadership transition and its $9 billion SPAC merger with BowX Acquisition Corp. She also advised CLEAR Secure on its initial public offering, Marriott International following a data security incident involving the Starwood guest database, and AB InBev on its management transition.
Lauren’s litigation experience includes Nikola during the fraud trial of its founder and Wayne-Sanderson Farms in its antitrust litigation in Illinois. At a prior firm, she supported BP following the Deepwater Horizon accident and spill. She has broad experience in planning for Investor Days and navigating investor relations issues, specifically designing strategies to effectively communicate with retail investors.
While at Gladstone, Lauren was named as one of PRWeek’s Women of Distinction. Prior to Gladstone, Lauren spent nine years at Brunswick Group. Lauren also worked in the Investment Banking and Investor Relations divisions of JPMorgan in New York and London. She graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in Geography and is fluent in Spanish. She is the chair of the National Governing Board of the Jeremiah Program. Lauren lives in New York City with her husband and two children.