Nikolai holds a Master of Law from Wiesbaden, Germany. Prior to joining Vale, he worked for a Big4 firm in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Toronto and Zurich, where he gained experience in German and international tax law with a focus on real estate transactions, corporate restructurings and (re)financings. Nikolai is a qualified German tax advisor and is a member of the International Fiscal Association.

Phoebe joined from Real Chemistry (London) where she focussed on financial data analysis and accounting processes within the pharmaceutical market. Before Real Chemistry, Phoebe was a Legal Consultant for a construction company (Hampshire) involved in an ongoing land dispute. Phoebe studied at Cardiff University, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law and was an active member of the Cardiff Innocence Project.

Jay Knobloch is an experienced intellectual property (IP) executive. Mr. Knobloch has overseen all aspects of IP, including building patent portfolios, monetizing IP assets, advising boards about matters of IP, and managing IP risk throughout the entire supply chain. Prior to joining VALE, Mr. Knobloch was Chief Commercialization Officer/EVP, IP at NuCurrent and Chief IP Counsel at Trading Technologies. He has overseen multiple IP jury trials and post-grant proceedings. Mr. Knobloch is a proven leader in building an IP strategy around an emerging technology and maximizing ROI for that given technology. Mr. Knobloch has regularly invested in developing IP portfolios and advises growth stage companies on IP issues and risk. He has also overseen the acquisition of multiple patent portfolios for the purposes of patent monetization. Mr. Knobloch received his JD from DePaul College of Law, while working as a patent agent at a top-tier IP boutique. He graduated with a BS in electrical engineering and minor in mathematics from Arizona State University.