Margaret Cotter
Chair Margaret Cotter joined our Board on September 27, 2002, and currently serves as the Chairperson of our Board, and as a member of our Executive Committee. Director Cotter was elected Chairperson on December 8, 2020. Prior to this time, Chair Cotter served as the Vice-Chair of our Board from August 7, 2014 to December 7, 2020. On March 10, 2016, our Board appointed Chair Cotter as Executive Vice President-Real Estate Management and Development-NYC, at which time Chair Cotter became a full-time employee of our Company. In this position, Chair Cotter is responsible for the daily management of our live theatre properties and operations, including the oversight of the day-to-day development process of our 44 Union Square property and oversight of our other New York, Chicago and Pennsylvania real estate holdings. Chair Cotter was the owner and President of OBI, LLC (“OBI”), which, from 2002 until her appointment as Executive Vice President – Real Estate Management and Development- NYC, managed our live theatre operations under a management agreement and provided management and various services regarding the development of our New York theatre and cinema properties. Pursuant to the OBI management agreement, Chair Cotter also served as the President of Liberty Theaters, LLC, our live-theatre subsidiary. The OBI management agreement was terminated with Chair Cotter’s appointment as Executive Vice President-Real Estate Management and Development-NYC. Chair Cotter is also a theatrical producer who has produced shows in Chicago and New York and a former board member of the League of Off-Broadway Theaters and Producers.
Chair Cotter is a former Assistant District Attorney for King’s County in Brooklyn, New York, and she graduated from Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center. She is the sister of Director, Chief Executive Officer and President Ellen Cotter. Chair Cotter is a Co-Executor of her father’s estate, which is the record owner of 326,800 shares of Class A Stock and 427,808 shares of our Class B Stock (representing 25.5% of such Class B Stock). Chair Cotter is also a Co-Trustee of the Cotter Living Trust, which is the record owner of 1,552,649 shares of Class A Stock and 696,080 shares of Class B Voting Common Stock (representing an additional 41.4% of such Class B Stock), the Co-Trustee of the Cotter Foundation, which is the record owner of 102,751 shares of Class A Stock, and the Sole-Trustee of the James J. Cotter Education Trust #1, which is the record holder of 84,956 shares of Class A Stock and of which her children are the sole beneficiaries. Chair Cotter also holds various positions in her family’s agricultural enterprises. She is a director of Cecelia Packing Corporation. In her capacity as the Co-Executor of the Estate of James J. Cotter, Chair Cotter (together with her sister and Co-Executor, Ellen Cotter) holds various positions in various real estate entities that are part of her father’s estate, which, include, without limitation, acting as the 50% Cotter general partner of Sutton Hill Associates, which is the parent company of Sutton Hill Capital, L.L.C.
Chair Cotter brings to the Board her experience as a live theatre producer, theatre operator and an active member of the New York theatre community, which gives her insight into live theatre business trends that affect our business in this sector, and in New York and Chicago real estate matters. Managing the oversight of our theatre properties for over twenty-one (21) years, Chair Cotter contributes to the strategic direction for our developments. In addition, with her direct ownership of 759,876 shares of Class A Stock and 35,100 shares of Class B Stock and her positions as Co-Executor of her father’s estate and Co-Trustee of the Cotter Trust and the Cotter Foundation, and the Sole-Trustee of the James J. Education Trust #1, Chair Cotter is a significant stakeholder in our Company.