Ashley Madison Customers Revealed: Ron Ten Berge, Former EBSCO Executive Who Now is with Frontenac Private Equity of Chicago, Appears at Affairs Site

Ron and Leigh Ten Berge
(From facebook.com)

A former high-level executive at EBSCO Industries, and a member of one of the most prestigious country clubs in the Birmingham area, appears as a paying customer at the Ashley Madison extramarital-affairs Web site, according to publicly available documents.
Ron Ten Berge was named president and general manager of PRADCO Outdoor Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of EBSCO, in January 2013. According to an industry-magazine report in December 2014, Ten Berge had stepped down. From Fishing Tackle Retailer:

President and General Manager of PRADCO Outdoor Brands, Ron Ten Berge, is out effective December 15. Ten Berge joined the company in October 2012 after five years at Yakima and four with Pure Fishing. The official release from ESBSCO, PRADCO’s parent company, is mom on the details of the breakup. Tim Collins, the freshly-coined CEO of EBSCO, who assumed his role in July, illuminated only that PRADCO has seen quality control issues under Ten Berge’s leadership.

Ten Berge has landed as CEO1st Executive Partner at Frontenac Private Equity, of Chicago. Ten Berge apparently still lives in Birmingham, and his personal bottom line seems to be fine. He and his family are members of Greystone Country Club. On his LinkedIn page, Ten Berge describes his alliance with Frontenac:

Frontenac and I have partnered together to jointly pursue new investment opportunities in the consumer enthusiast markets, including outdoor and auto enthusiasts. We aim to create a solution that provides liquidity for selling shareholders, plus growth capital, operational resources, and executive support required to achieve the company’s vision. Our complementary operating and financial skills make us differentiated partners. . . .
Categories include, but are not limited to:
➢ Fishing ➢ Cycling
➢ Trail Sports ➢ Camping
➢ Hunting ➢ Camping
➢ Water Sports ➢ Snow Sports
➢ Wildlife Viewing ➢ Auto Accessories

Ten Berge provides insight about Frontenanc's "CEO-centric approach":

Frontenac is a leading private equity firm, based in Chicago. The firm focuses on investing in lower middle market buyout transactions in the food, industrial, and services industries. Frontenac works in partnership with proven operating leaders, through our executive-centric approach called CEO1ST, to identify, acquire, and build market leading companies through transformational acquisitions and operational excellence. The firm has built a leading franchise working with over 225 owners of mid-sized businesses, almost always families or founders, as they address complex transition issues of liquidity, management enhancement, and growth planning.

Ten Berge has a wealth of experience in a diversified industry that tends to produce plenty of revenue (Note: I grew up and live in Springfield, Missouri, home to Bass Pro Shops, so I have a better-than-average idea of how robust these companies can be.) From Ten Berge's LinkedIn profile:

I am an inspirational Executive Management Professional with career experience at leading consumer and sporting goods organizations including Kraft Foods, Frito-Lay, Wrigley, and PRADCO Outdoor Brands. I offer exceptional knowledge of marketing and the ability to align all functional business units surrounding business goals. By establishing effective strategies to guide businesses, I have delivered unprecedented growth levels, attaining record-setting results in key performance metrics throughout career.

Sounds like a smart guy. So, why wasn't he smart enough to steer clear of a sleazy outfit like Ashley Madison? That's not clear, but Ten Berge appears to have an enviable family life. His Facebook page is filled with family photos, including two children (Kyle and Megan Ten Berge, a University of Alabama nursing graduate; Kyle is a medic in the U.S. Army), as is the Facebook page for his wife, Leigh Ten Berge (who runs the Great Clips hair salon in Vestavia Hills).

The Ten Berge family
(From facebook.com)

Ron Ten Berge has been a major player in his industry. From the Fishing Tackle Retailer article about his dismissal at EBSCO:

The litany of brands that Ten Berge oversaw is mind-boggling. It reads like a who’s who of lure manufacturers in not only fishing, but hunting as well:
In fishing, REBEL, Booyah, YUM!, Lindy, Bandit, Bomber, Bomber Saltwater, Arbogast, Cotton Cordell, Creek Chub, Lazy Ike, Little Joe, Silver Thread, Thill, Smithwick and XCalibur. Add hunting brands Moultrie, Summit, Knight and Hale and Code Blue to that list and you not only begin to understand the depth of that task, but the powerful impact the position holds within our retail industry.

We sought comment from Ron Ten Berge for this post, but he has not responded to our queries.