Paul C. Hilal is the founder and chief executive officer of Mantle Ridge LP. Over the past two decades, he has built a strong record as an engaged or activist investor, and as a passive value investor.

Prior to forming Mantle Ridge, Mr. Hilal was a senior partner at Pershing Square Capital Management, where he focused on both passive and activist investing projects. Among these was the successful value creation initiative at Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP).

Prior to forming Mantle Ridge, Mr. Hilal was a senior partner at Pershing Square Capital Management, where he focused on both passive and activist investing projects. Among these was the successful value creation initiative at Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP).

Mr. Hilal identified the potential investment opportunity at CP and recruited railroad legend Hunter Harrison to offer his services to CP as a CEO candidate. Following a 2012 proxy campaign that secured seven seats on Canadian Pacific Railway’s board and installed Hunter Harrison as CEO, Mr. Hilal served as a CP Director until January of 2016, when he retired from Pershing Square.

At CP, Mr. Hilal chaired the board’s Management Resources and Compensation Committee, served on its Finance Committee, and played an active role supporting the work of the Nominating and Governance committee. He worked closely with Mr. Harrison and the rest of the CP team in an effort that led to the transformation of CP from the industry laggard to one of the two top-performing Class I railroads in North America, with strong improvements in operating performance, customer service, safety and shareholder value.

Mr. Hilal also played leading roles in Pershing Square’s successful activist investments in Ceridian, a data processing company, and Air Products & Chemicals Inc.

Prior to joining Pershing Square in 2006, Mr. Hilal:

• Founded and served as managing partner of Caliber Capital Management, LP, an information technology-sector-focused investment fund, from 2002 to 2005;
• Led the information technology-sector investment program at Hilal Capital Management from 1998 to 2001;
• Served in 1999-2000 as chairman and in the capacity of interim chief executive officer of Worldtalk Communications Corporation, a publicly traded software company that Mr. Hilal led through a restructuring and successful sale; and
• Prior to 1999, advised numerous companies across the information technology sector as an investment banker at Broadview Associates, at the time the leading mergers and acquisitions advisory firm to the sector. Broadview is now a subsidiary of Jefferies Inc.

Mr. Hilal serves on the Board of Columbia Business School and served, until 2016, on the board of directors of the Grameen Foundation – an umbrella organization that helps microlending and microfranchise institutions empower the world’s poorest through financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. He is also a trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Hilal received an AB in biochemistry from Harvard College in 1988, a JD from Columbia Law School in 1992, and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1992.