John E. Kiernan

John Kiernan is President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Alico, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALCO) since 2019. He has spent the past several years executing a strategic transformation that pivoted Alico away from a six-decade citrus business that was facing tremendous headwinds toward a diversified land company, a transformation the market has rewarded with a roughly 47% increase in market capitalization. Before becoming CEO, he was Alico’s CFO. Earlier in his career, he spent more than three decades on Wall Street, in corporate development, and in the C-suite.

Mr. Kiernan served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Greenwich Associates and as Treasurer and Senior Vice President of Global Crossing, where he raised over a billion dollars in new capital following the company's emergence from bankruptcy. He held investor-relations and interim-treasury roles at Misys during its turnaround and served as Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at IBM. Mr. Kiernan spent more than ten years as a Managing Director of Technology Investment Banking at Bear Stearns. He is a former Independent Director of PeoplesBank, A Codorus Valley Company, a NASDAQ-listed community bank, where he served on the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Mr. Kiernan is an NACD-Certified Director and a Certified Treasury Professional (retired). He is admitted to the New York State Bar.

“There’s no room for complacency in business. Leadership teams need to be data driven, honest about their situation and not be afraid to challenge the status quo.”

Why we nominated him

1. He has run a public-company turnaround

Under Mr. Kiernan’s leadership, Alico has executed a comprehensive strategic transformation from a six-decade legacy as one of Florida’s largest citrus producers, a business whose grove productivity had been progressively devastated by citrus greening disease, to a diversified land company monetizing approximately 56,000 acres of Southwest Florida real estate through agricultural leasing, land sales and real-estate-development entitlements. The Company wound down its core citrus operations, restructured its cost base, exceeded its initial $50 million annual land-sales guidance, and secured a transformative regulatory milestone in June 2025 when Florida House Bill 4041 created the Corkscrew Grove Stewardship District. By the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the Company’s farmable land utilization reached 97% and the Company reported positive Adjusted EBITDA. ALCO common stock returned approximately 41% in calendar year 2025 and an additional approximately 17% year-to-date in 2026, with market capitalization expanding from under $220 million to approximately $325 million.

2. He brings independent bank-director experience

From April 2022 through July 2024, Mr. Kiernan served as an Independent Director of PeoplesBank (a NASDAQ-listed approximately $2 billion community bank), where he sat on the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Mr. Kiernan was immersed in commercial banking operations, reviewing key performance metrics, credit quality, regulatory requirements, and other issues unique to FDIC-insured institutions. Medallion Bank generated approximately 95% of Medallion’s interest income in 2025, and is the Company’s most valuable asset. Mr. Kiernan has directly transferable expertise he can bring to elevating Medallion Bank and creating sustainable value.

3. He has the capital-markets and M&A depth Medallion's situation demands

Mr. Kiernan has spent his career at the intersection of capital markets and corporate finance. He served as Treasurer and Senior Vice President of Global Crossing following the company’s emergence from bankruptcy, where he raised $1.1 billion in new capital and managed approximately $400 million daily across operations in 60 countries. He spent 12 years as an investment banker, including more than ten years as a Managing Director of Technology Investment Banking at Bear Stearns, where he led approximately 60 capital-markets and M&A transactions. Medallion needs to grow — intelligently and responsibly — but in order to fund that growth it will need capital and credibility with the capital markets. Medallion’s core consumer returns have declined and the Company will struggle to internally fund necessary investments in technology, accretive acquisitions and business line expansions. With Mr. Kiernan’s credibility on the board and an improved leadership team, Medallion will have access to far cheaper capital on its own terms.

Career highlights

Education

• Juris Doctor, University of Virginia School of Law
• M.B.A., University of Virginia Darden School of Business
• B.A., Saint Vincent College

Independence

Mr. Kiernan does not own securities of Medallion Financial Corp. and has not transacted in Medallion securities during the past two years. He has no business relationship with Medallion. He would qualify as independent under the corporate governance standards of the New York Stock Exchange.