Elliot Maza has created a professional persona that connects law, finance, and life science, demonstrating an extraordinary ability to pivot through changing industries while continuously reflecting core values of integrity, loyalty, and respect. His experiences reveal a strength in leadership, as well as a passion for developing organizations that provide health and well-being to others. Elliot Maza is considered a life science entrepreneur, advisor to pharmaceutical and med-tech companies, and a professional who views the world through both personal influences and a corporate lens.
Early Career in Law and Finance
Maza initiated his professional journey as a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York, one of the top law firms in the United States. Thereafter, he made the transition to investment banking and worked with Goldman Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. With these experiences, Maza acquired his expertise in structured finance transactions and derivatives product development and marketing, specifically regarding complex financial products and corporate strategies.
Maza eventually worked at Ernst & Young LLP as a Partner in Transaction Advisory Services. At Ernst & Young, Maza sharpened his advising capabilities with respect to mergers, acquisitions, and other important strategic business decisions, which would serve him well in his subsequent work for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Transition into Life Sciences
Elliot Maza varied his profession to leverage an opportunity in the life sciences industry. He held executive positions in several biotechnology companies, including as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., Chief Executive Officer and CFO at Biozone Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Chief Financial Officer of Emisphere Technologies Inc. He made a notable contribution not only in the finance function but through strategic growth in the pharmaceutical ecosystem, particularly in a competitive industry focused on innovation.
During his tenure with Immune Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 2015 until 2018, Maza began as a Director and progressed to serve as their Interim CEO and then their Chief Executive Officer, shaping and directing the corporate course during a key period for the organization.
Currently, Elliot Maza continues to lend his experience to the broader life sciences area as a senior adviser for a pharmaceutical and med-tech company, providing advisory support to the CEO in their journey to corporate growth, investor and public relations, and successful mergers and acquisitions, license transactions, and other factors contributing to corporate success. He maintains a strong focus on long-term sustainability for the organization, keeping innovation and commercial governance in balance.
Educational and Professional Credentials
Maza's academic background supports his multifaceted career. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Touro College in New York, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Maza is a registered attorney and a licensed Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in New York and New Jersey. His unique combination of legal and financial expertise has enabled him to serve as a member of the board of directors for numerous, both OTC and NASDAQ-traded biotechnology companies, in many cases, serving in a position of oversight as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Personal Influences and Values
In addition to professional accomplishments, Elliot Maza informs his point of view with formative early experiences and strong values. He recalls one important influence from his youth: being around his mother when she decided to prioritize endurance activities as part of her everyday life long before it was popular. Maza tells a story of his mother regularly watching The Jack LaLanne Show. Her consistent physical charge revealed to Maza the natural importance of fitness in life's balance.
Spending time with his uncle, the comedian Jackie Mason, was also an example of valuable lessons learned through Maza's childhood. He watched Mason his entire life, and he saw how genuine authenticity drives the public's life and self-branding. Unlike many of today's industry figures who carefully construct a public persona that usually distinguishes them from their true self, Mason's character was the same on or off the stage. Maza's experience illustrated early that to achieve success, perhaps more than anything, the successful are truly authentic, and in-person or work social interactions, Maza tries to hold onto the lessons and definition of true self.
Defining Success and Navigating Misconceptions
Maza's conception of success has developed throughout his life. At the beginning of his professional life, his markers for success were predicated on money and job title; however, now he is much more personal. His definition of success now includes alignment of his own values, growth, purpose, and happiness. This change highlights his thinking that long-term success comes from authentic living versus recognition alone.
Maza also points out a myth of his story—the belief that his accomplishments were made in a vacuum. He credits his accomplishments to increased learning, change, and risk within collaborative spaces and with the support of support groups, family and friends.
Humor in Challenging Times
Humor has also been significant in his life. He remembers, as a teenager on a flight to Florida, a bout of turbulence that had made the plane's passengers uneasy. When the ordeal passed, his mother had dotted her eyes and loudly asked a flight attendant, "Can I have my husband's nuts?" Completely innocently, thinking only of the skipped snack. The remark lightened the situation, and laughter filled the cabin. For Maza, this story demonstrates humor's ability to defuse serious situations, and to connect people.
Philanthropy and Broader Interests
Elliot Maza is semi-retired and now devotes more of his time to philanthropy, especially organizations that provide employment and educational opportunities for people who want to better their lives. This also illustrates his wider view of success to include being a part of someone else's growth and opportunities. His dedication to philanthropy suggests that his ethical ideals and work ethic are aligned in their efforts to create a lasting opportunity for positive change.
Balancing Public and Private Life
Public scrutiny exists in an age of digital ubiquity, and while Maza recognizes the advantages and challenges that transparency and access to information entail, he notes that he must balance the pressures of visibility with self-reflection and self-improvement. Maza suggests communicating clearly in a strategic manner, and instead of using external pressure as a barrier to self-growth, utilizing that pressure as a catalyst for self-growth.
Legacy and Lasting Principles
In the future, Elliot Maza envisions that his legacy will transcend his achievements in a profession. He wishes to establish family traditions, show kindness, and impart wisdom acquired in life. He also emphasizes recognizing one's mistakes, taking responsibility for them, and using them as learning experiences. His take on imperfection is a recognition that no matter where you are in your development, you can continue to be humble and improve over time.
Conclusion
The professional and personal journey of Elliot Maza provides meaningful lessons about leadership, authenticity, and resilience. Elliot's career reflects adaptability and a longstanding commitment to having a positive impact on people's lives, starting from initially practicing law and working in finance to serving benefits in several prominent life sciences leadership positions, while positively impacting new business ventures as well.
Shaped by family values, upbringing, and life situations in both his legal and business experiences, Maza has created a philosophy that revolves around integrity, gratitude, respect, and lifelong growth. Today, Elliot continues to advise, mentor, and contribute to philanthropy, and he represents the concept that true success is derived from more than professional endeavors; he has also created a legacy of values and wisdom to share with others.
