Bill Roark, founder of Starfish Holdings, is retiring, effective immediately. Starfish Holdings is the parent company of Torch Technologies, Freedom Real Estate & Capital LLC and SIMVANA.
Roark will continue to serve as executive chairman of the Starfish Holdings board of directors and as a member of Freedom Real Estate’s board. He will remain as CEO of Freedom Real Estate during the transition period.
“When Don Holder and I founded Torch Technologies in 2002, the goal was to create an employee-owned company with an approach that would allow the founders to retire without having to sell the company,” Roark said. “We have now successfully achieved that goal.”
Starfish CEO John Watson said the company has been working towards this turning point for several years. Watson was named president of Starfish Holdings in 2023 and CEO in 2024.
“We want to thank Bill for all he has done for each of the companies in the Starfish enterprise. Each of our employee-owners owes a great deal to Bill and Don and their vision for what could be achieved through employee ownership,” said Watson.
Torch Technologies provides research, development and engineering services to the Department of Defense. Freedom Real Estate & Capital was established in 2014 to invest and manage commercial real estate. SIMVANA provides clinical health care training through virtual environments.
