Board of Directors

Mark D. Gordon is an entrepreneur with a keen ability to build companies and lead them to realizing their true potential for success. He orchestrated Odyssey’s pivot from shipwreck exploration to subsea mineral resources by recognizing the opportunity to apply Odyssey’s core competencies in a more productive manner, selecting diverse and strategic key mineral resource targets for the Odyssey portfolio and securing the funding necessary for the company to achieve success in this new endeavor.

Mr. Gordon was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2014 and Chairman of the Board in 2019. Mr. Gordon also served as the company's President from 2007-2019 and on Odyssey's Board of Directors since January 2008. He joined Odyssey in 2005 as an independent consultant before serving as Director, Business Development and Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development, where he was responsible for the Attraction, Business Development and Retail Merchandising operations for the Company.

Prior to joining Odyssey, Mr. Gordon started, owned or managed four different entrepreneurial ventures from 1987 to 2003, including Synergy Networks which he founded in 1993 and served as CEO until September of 2003 before selling the company to the Rockefeller Group. He continued serving as President of Rockefeller Group Technology Services Mid Atlantic (RGTSMA), a member of Rockefeller Group International, until December 2004. Past work experience also includes a two-year tenure as a Management Consultant at Arthur Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Mr. Gordon received a B.S./Business Administration in 1982 and an MBA in Finance in 1983 from the American University. As a shipwreck diver with the National Diving Center in Washington DC, he has conducted hundreds of dives and explorations on shipwrecks and was the first person to discover and dive on the wreck of the S.S. Proteus, a ship that had been missing since the early 1900s.

Mr. Gordon is also a board member for Marine Applied Research and Exploration, a non-profit focused on working collaboratively with state and federal agencies, academic institutions, and other NGOs, deploying a robotic fleet to explore and document deep-water ecosystems in support of their conservation and management.

Mark Justh joined Odyssey’s Board in July 2013. Mr. Justh is also the CEO of JD Farms, an organic hay and antibiotic free cattle farm in New York. Mr. Justh served as Managing Director at JP Morgan, Hong Kong for over ten years. Prior to that, Mr. Justh was a Partner at HPJ Media Ventures/DeNovo Capital from 2000 to 2002, where he managed a $25 million fund that made private investments in media properties. From 1994 to 2000 he was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs International responsible for Institutional Equity Sales coverage of Switzerland and France for the US equity product.

Mr. Justh earned his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, his Master’s degree from New York University and his MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). Mr. Justh was also Honorably Discharged from the US Army Reserve as a First Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps.

John C. Abbott joined Odyssey’s board in June 2015 and was appointed as Chairman of the Audit Committee in June 2016. Mr. Abbott previously served as Chief Executive Officer of The Meet Group (Nasdaq: MEET), a leading U.S. social network for meeting new people. Mr. Abbott served as Chairman of The Meet Group’s Board of Directors from February 2009 until June 2016. From 1992 to 2005, Mr. Abbott held several positions within J.P. Morgan’s Latin America Mergers & Acquisitions team, working in both New York and Sao Paulo. Mr. Abbott earned his B.A. degree in History from Stanford University and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School.

James S. Pignatelli joined Odyssey’s Board of Directors in 2015. He serves as an independent member of the Board of Directors of Altos Hornos de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. He is also a director of ElectroRent Corp. and BlueCross and BlueShield of Arizona.

Mr. Pignatelli has over 45 years of experience in the electric utility industry. Previously, Mr. Pignatelli served in various roles, including chairman of the Board, CEO, and President of Unisource Energy Services, Inc., and its subsidiary, Tucson Electric Power Co. (TEP). Prior to joining TEP, Mr. Pignatelli served as the president and CEO of Mission Energy Company, a subsidiary of SCE Corp.

Mr. Pignatelli holds a B.A. degree in accounting from Claremont Men's College and a J.D. from the University of San Diego.

Jon D. Sawyer joined the Board of Directors in November 2009 and has served as chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee since June 2015 and the Compensation Committee since March 2011. He also served as chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee from June 2010 to June 2011. Mr. Sawyer opened his own securities law firm in January 2014 in Denver, Colorado, and he retired from his securities law practice in January 2018. Prior to that he was a practicing securities lawyer with the firm of Jin, Schauer & Saad, LLC in Denver, Colorado, where he worked from March 2009 until December 2013. He started his securities law career working for the Denver Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission as a trial attorney from 1976 to 1979. He worked the next 27 years practicing securities law in private practice, and during this time he served as securities counsel for Odyssey from 1997 to 2006. He was a partner with the Denver law firm of Krys, Boyle, P.C. from November 1996 until June 2007. From June 2007 until March 2009 he was a co-owner and worked full time in various capacities including President and general counsel for Professional Recovery Systems, LLC, a privately held financial services firm engaged in the business of purchasing, selling and collecting portfolios of consumer charged-off debt.

Director Since June 27, 2017

Todd Siegel joined Odyssey’s Board of Directors in 2021. Mr. Siegel is also the current CEO of Centered Solutions, experts in the design, development and implementation of automated, high-speed prescription dispensing systems for the pharmacy industry.

Previously, Mr. Siegel served as President and Chief Executive Officer of MTS Medication Technologies, Inc from 1993 to 2010. After the privitization of the company he served as CEO until the sale of MTS to Omnicell in 2012. He joined MTS in 1985, shortly after its inception and served in various capacities during his tenure. Mr. Siegel was responsible for all strategic and operational activities of the business and led the company to become the dominant provider of medication punch cards and packaging automation in the US and Europe. He is also the inventor of record for over 40 patents including key patents for MTS’s flagship OnDemand automation.

Siegel received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colo. Mr. Siegel is currently a board member for Superior Group of Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUC)where he serves on the Governance and Ethics Committee and chairs the Capital Committee. He is a lifetime member of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), a member of the Young President’s Organization Gold and has served on boards of several charitable organization.