Shayne Fitz-Coy is an operator-investor who buys companies and builds people. Fitz-Coy is Co-founder and Co-CEO of Sabot Family Companies, the long-term holding company he co-founded in 2016 with his wife, Arar Han, and CEO of Rustic Pathways, its largest operating company.
He drives value through patient capital, operational turnarounds and a people-centered philosophy shaped by a background in psychology.
Shayne Fitz-Coy co-founded Sabot Family Companies with Arar Han in 2016.
The firm began at Stanford and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Sabot Family Companies operates as a long-term holding company, serial acquirer and permanent owner in the tradition of Berkshire Hathaway, Canada’s Constellation Software and Sweden’s Lifco.
Sabot Family Companies invests to grow the people that make the companies flourish.
Fitz-Coy teaches Introduction to Private Equity at Seoul National University and publishes as the Teaching CEO.
Teaching runs in the family: grandparents, parents and siblings served as educators. As CEO of Rustic Pathways, the educational travel company founded in 1983, he leads the full-time staff and several hundred seasonal program leaders.
He co-created the Climate Leaders Fellowship, a climate action program for high school students, with Dr. Alice Siu of Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab and John Hsu.
A degree in psychology and an MBA shape how Fitz-Coy runs companies.
He holds a B.A. in Psychology, cum laude, from Harvard College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Before Sabot Family Companies, Fitz-Coy built experience at Cintas Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Rhythm NewMedia and Balsam Brands.
Sabot Family Companies invests in business services, consumer services, education and real estate.
Education anchors the portfolio. Rustic Pathways runs programs for students ages 14 to 18 across 38 countries and counts 155,829 alumni to date.
Fitz-Coy calls the operating philosophy Capitalism with Love.
Good value for customers and fair treatment of teams drive long-term results. Fitz-Coy’s ResponseLink turnaround proved it: a medical-alert business losing $500,000 a month returned $45 million over a 12-year hold ending in 2025.
Fitz-Coy writes on leadership and long-term ownership for Forbes, Inc, Fast Company and Entrepreneur.
He has published more than 20 articles and serves on the Forbes Business Council and the Fast Company Executive Board. Fitz-Coy splits time between Palo Alto, California and Seoul, South Korea.
Connect with Shayne Fitz-Coy on LinkedIn.