About Us

Our Team

Who we are

Family owned and operated since 2002

As a private family-run firm, we answer to our clients, not shareholders. Defender Capital, an SEC-Registered Investment Advisor, manages private accounts – retirement accounts, non-retirement accounts, trusts, corporate accounts, donor-advised funds, etc. – for individuals, families, and corporations. We take a research driven, long-term approach, investing in U.S. equities. We keep skin in the game by investing in the same holdings as our clients. We offer fair and transparent fees. We focus on delivering after-tax returns.
Defender Capital

Meet the team

Don
G. Stamas

Founding Partner, CEO

As a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) and Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU®), Don has served as Chairman on the board of the Charlotte Estate Planning Council and as Director of the Charlotte Financial Planning Symposium. Don and his wife Kathryn have two daughters and a grandson.

John
D. Stamas

Founding Partner, CIO

Before co-founding Defender Capital, John began working at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York City and moved to Charlotte in 1998. John and his wife Elizabeth have two sons.

Tom
Worth III

Partner

Tom is a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®), who develops and manages client relationships. Tom joined Defender Capital in 2014 and has been working with high net worth families for two decades. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Tom and his wife Lawson, also a NC native, have lived in Charlotte since the mid-1990s where they are raising their two children.

Chris
Wilson

Associate

Chris focuses on transcendent service to ensure client needs are met in a timely manner. Before joining Defender Capital in 2019, Chris was employed at UBS. Chris and his wife, Jenna, have two daughters.

Josh
Leary

MBA, Partner

Josh is responsible for developing and managing client relationships.  Josh has 14 years of Banking experience, specializing in Leveraged Finance Sales & Trading.  Before joining Defender Capital, Josh worked for US Bank and Citizens Bank, on both Investment Grade and High Yield desks.  He has lived in Charlotte since 2010, after earning his MBA from UNC Chapel Hill.  Josh and his wife, Kate, have two daughters and a son.

Defender Capital

Board of Advisors

Chief Executive Officer
Omnicom Group/DAS
Former Chairman & CEO
FMI Corporation
Managing partner
CohnReznick
Retired, managing partner
Coudert Brothers
CO-Founder
Extraordinary Women on Boards
President
Graham Enterprises
Operating Executive
Carlyle
chairman
Southern Elevator Group, Inc.
Retired Vice Chairman
Archer Daniels Midland
Co-Founder, Senior Managing Partner
MyNext Season
Managing Partner
Crosland Southeast
Co-Owner, Director and Chairman of the Board
McDonald York Building Company
Owner & Entrepreneur
Ella B. Candles
partner
McGuireWoods
Defender Capital

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