Jim O’Connell

Tampa, FL and New York, NY

Jim O’Connell is president of Vinik Family Office, the private investment office of Jeff Vinik, owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. In a return to his hometown of Tampa, Florida, Mr. O’Connell first joined Vinik Family Office as chief of staff in 2016. He is now responsible for advancing all business interests of Jeff Vinik, with a focus on investing in the Tampa Bay area, one of the fastest growing regions of the county.

After graduating from Wake Forest in 2013, he remained on campus working as a Fellow in the President’s Office and later held an internship on the vetting team inside the Obama White House. Having served as Student Trustee during his undergraduate years, he was once again elected to the Wake Forest Board of Trustees in 2019. In addition to his involvement with Wake Forest, he sits on a number of boards including Embold Health, the Tampa Bay Partnership, and Fairgrounds. He also holds a master’s in U.S. history and a master’s in religious studies from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.