RSR Partners Names Thames Fulton Head of Family Enterprises Practice

Greenwich, Conn., October 20, 2026 – RSR Partners, a premier executive search and board advisory firm, today announced that Thames Fulton has been named Head of its Family Enterprises practice. Thames has spent more than 25 years advising family owners, boards, and CEOs on consequential leadership and governance decisions, including board composition and recruiting, CEO succession, and executive search.

In this role, Thames will lead RSR's work with family-owned and family-controlled enterprises, drawing on capabilities across the firm's Board & CEO Services, CEO Succession, executive search, and Family Office practices.

Family enterprises face distinctive leadership and governance questions as businesses grow, ownership moves across generations, and the complexity of the organization increases. Those questions can include adding independent directors, planning for CEO succession, recruiting a first outside CEO, succeeding or upgrading key members of the C-suite, creating senior roles that have not previously existed, or building leadership within a family office.

“Family enterprises place an enormous amount of trust in the advisers they bring into consequential leadership decisions,” said Brett Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of RSR Partners. “Thames has spent much of his career working at the intersection of ownership, governance, and leadership. He understands that the right answer starts with the circumstances of the individual enterprise — its owners, its board, its culture, its strategy, and what it is trying to become. That judgment, together with the broader capabilities of our firm, makes him the natural person to lead this practice.”

RSR's approach begins with understanding the enterprise before defining the search. Family ownership can influence how decisions are made, how leaders earn credibility, how boards evolve, and how outside executives are successfully integrated into the organization. The firm's work therefore extends beyond identifying qualified candidates to understanding the environment in which those candidates will be expected to lead.

“No two family enterprises are alike, but their most important leadership decisions are often connected,” said Thames. “A board may need to evolve as a company becomes larger and more complex. A CEO transition may expose the need for a different kind of CFO or CHRO. Growth may create the need for a first General Counsel or another senior role that has never existed before. Our job is to understand the ownership context, governance, strategy, and leadership needs well enough to solve the right problem — not simply fill a position.”

Board and governance work will be a central component of the Family Enterprises practice. RSR helps family enterprises assess the capabilities their boards need, recruit independent directors, and strengthen board composition as the requirements of the business evolve. The firm's CEO Succession practice works with boards and owners on succession planning, internal and external talent, and CEO search, while RSR's executive search capabilities extend to key leadership roles including CFO, CHRO, General Counsel, COO, and President.

The practice will also work closely with RSR's Family Office team, which has recruited investment and enterprise leadership for family offices for more than 30 years. Depending on the situation, that work can include chief investment officers, chief financial officers, and other senior leaders responsible for managing the increasingly complex organizations families build around their investments and operating interests.

“We intend to focus on where we can add the most value,” Thames added. “RSR is at its best when leadership, governance, and enterprise performance intersect. We recognize that family enterprises also face complex ownership and family governance questions that may require specialized expertise. Being a trusted adviser means understanding where we can help and collaborating with the family’s other advisers to bring the right expertise to the table.”

To learn more about RSR Partners' Family Enterprises practice, click here.

About RSR Partners

RSR Partners is a leading boutique retained board and executive search firm, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, dedicated to assisting boards and CEOs with their most crucial leadership needs. Established in 1993 by industry visionary Russell S. Reynolds, Jr., the firm brings more than three decades of specialized experience in board and executive recruiting, strategic selection and succession planning.

RSR Partners has completed thousands of high-impact engagements for clients including public companies, mutual fund complexes, foundations, private equity-backed firms, family-owned businesses and family offices. The firm's expertise spans a range of sectors including asset management, industrial, consumer, financial services, healthcare, marketing and digital, and technology.

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Contacts
Lindsay Griesmeyer
+1 (203) 618-7076
media@rsrpartners.com