Armenians who made Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA 500 list as the most influential people in 2026
LA500 2026: Ed Bagdasarian – Los Angeles Business Journal
Chief Executive, Managing Director
Intrepid Investment Bankers
As co-founder and chief executive of Brentwood-based Intrepid Investment Bankers, Ed Bagdasarian has spent more than three decades guiding entrepreneurs through complex middle-market M&A transactions across consumer, health care, technology, manufacturing, industrials and business services. Before co-founding Intrepid, Bagdasarian was a principal partner at Barrington Associates, a respected middle-market M&A advisory firm later acquired by Wells Fargo Securities. He also served as vice president at First Global Securities.
Region Manager, Southern California and Hawaii
Swinerton Builders
Lia Tatevosian was named Swinerton’s senior vice president and regional manager for Southern California and Hawaii in 2024, after joining the firm nearly 30 years ago as a project engineer. In her tenure, her portfolio includes the UCLA Broad Art Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Flight Projects Center, and the Los Angeles International Airport’s gateway light pylons and signage. The firm was named ENR West’s 2025 Southern California Contractor of the Year. Tatevosian is a founding member of Women in Construction Operations in Southern California and is also involved in organizations such as the ACE Mentor Program as well as Architecture and Advocacy.
Co-Founder
Skims Body Inc.
Reality star Kim Kardashian first stepped into public life with E! reality television series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which aired from 2007 to 2021. She then launched multiple fashion and beauty companies that catapulted her to billionaire status in 2021, including her shapewear company Skims Inc., valued at $5 billion. Her beauty company KKW Beauty Inc. has folded into her other company SKKN, which closed in 2025. Going forward, Kardashian is transitioning her makeup business under the larger Skims umbrella. In 2022, Kardashian launched SKKY Partners, a private equity firm, to focus on high-growth consumer and media companies.
Chief Executive, Managing Partner
Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt
Vicken Haleblian serves as the chief executive and managing partner of HCVT, becoming the fifth leader in the firm’s history and succeeding its founder, Phil Holthouse. In this role, Haleblian is responsible for shaping and executing the firm’s strategic vision.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Southern California
First job: Staff accountant at Arthur Andersen
Favorite charity or cause: NeuroTalent Works
Favorite pastime or hobby: Collecting watches
Favorite restaurant for fun: Any burger dive
Favorite restaurant for business: Philippe
The Original in downtown L.A.
Favorite quote: “If you think you’re leading and no one is following, then you’re only taking a walk.”
– John Maxwell
Founder, Chief Executive
EisnerAmper
With over 25 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt financing, Paren Knadjian has advised on more than 300 M&A and capital markets transactions totaling over $4.5 billion in value. Before joining the firm, Knadjian was a principal at KROST, where he led the technology market vertical.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Royal Merchant Naval School, U.K. and University of Bristol, U.K.
First job: A technical consultant at Scicon, a subsidiary of BP
Favorite charity or cause: Hillview Mental Health Center
Favorite book: “History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russell
Favorite pastime or hobby: Pickleball
Favorite restaurant for fun: Bavel
Favorite restaurant for business:
Republique
Head of North American Operations
SmartGate VC, Hero House
Armine Galstyan works at SmartGate VC and Hero House, where she scouts founders working in deep tech sectors like artificial intelligence, robotics and enterprise-grade platforms. SmartGate VC has two headquarters, one in Los Angeles and the other in Armenia, allowing Galstyan to access resources, capital and experts beyond the confines of Southern California. She is a founding member of Hero House, a tech hub based in Glendale that supports immigrant founders of early-stage startups by giving them a space to work and a plethora of networking opportunities. Galstyan operates the GateWay acceleration program in Hero House, which gives startups, universities and local businesses a chance to meet each other, collaborate and develop projects across different sectors..
Co-Founder, President
ServiceTitan Inc.
When Vahe Kuzoyan graduated college, he decided to develop a small-scale software platform to help his father, who worked in the plumbing business, move away from the outdated software he was using. Eighteen years later, ServiceTitan went from a small startup to a unicorn-valued company to a public company. ServiceTitan is a software-as-a-service company that caters to contractors. Through ServiceTitan and its various integrations, contractors and home service businesses can schedule appointments, track inventory, communicate with clients, and even buy materials. The company went public in December 2024, raising $625 million in its initial public offering. In a 2026 trades report, ServiceTitan said that around 75% of contractors that were surveyed view artificial intelligence as a tool to bolster efficiency.
Co-Founder, Chief Executive
ServiceTitan Inc.
Ara Mahdessian co-founded ServiceTitan in 2007. Mahdessian’s father, who worked in electrical, was the type of person ServiceTitan was built for: those in the trades, specifically home and construction services. During quarter earnings, ServiceTitan announced it crossed $1 billion in yearly revenue run rate. The company is exploring ways to utilize artificial intelligence as a way to automate processes that are currently manual at ServiceTitan. Because ServiceTitan is among the first – and by far the largest – software-as-a-service platform for the trades, the company has amassed a treasure trove of proprietary data. ServiceTitan plans on using that data to create more automated processes within the company.
Founder, Chief Executive
Fashion Nova
When Richard Saghian founded Fashion Nova in 2006, the then-Vernon-based company operated out of a handful of brick and mortar stores. Today, the company, now based in Beverly Hills, operates a high-growth e-commerce business that is reportedly worth around $1 billion. The company has been at the forefront of influencer and social media marketing to get the company in front of customers. The company, however successful, has not grown without its controversies. Fast fashion has been admonished for its carbon emissions carryover, which amounts to around 10% of global emissions. The company also settled with the Federal Trade Commission in 2025. The FTC alleged the company was using deceptive review practices that affected what consumers were buying.
