Bio

Ken Wanko is President and Chief Executive Officer at Alliance Holdings. Prior to becoming President & CEO, Ken led Alliance's acquisitions & divestiture team. As head of this team, Ken led the marketing, analysis, negotiation, and due diligence of all M&A spearheaded by Alliance and sat on the Board of Directors of several Alliance companies. Prior to joining Alliance in 2005, Mr. Wanko was a founding member of the ESOP corporate finance group of Houlihan Lokey Howard and Zukin, a leading middle-market investment bank. During his tenure at Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Wanko advised on some of the largest and most innovative employee buyouts in history, including the 100% employee buyouts of Appleton Papers and IIT Research Institute.