Michael R. Cooper

Managing Director, Forestry, North America

Michael R. Cooper, J.D., serves as Managing Director, Forestry, North America for Molpus Woodlands Group, which has been a part of the Gresham House group since 2026. Michael is responsible for developing firm-wide strategic initiatives. He also provides leadership and strategic business advice to company executives, management, client relations and business development and cross-functional teams of the company. Michael is a member of the North American Executive Committee, Global Executive Committee, Global Investment Committee, North American Investment Committee, Sustainability committee, Kronos Committee, and Risk Committee.

With 30 years of combined industry and legal experience, Michael has been with Molpus since 1999 and has played an integral role in various aspects of the company’s operations, including previously serving as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Executive Vice President. His previous experience includes overseeing fundraising activities and in the development of Molpus’s co-mingled funds and international tax structures.

Before joining Molpus, Michael was engaged in a diversified corporate law practice in Jackson, Mississippi. He was named to the Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2009 and received a Leadership in Law award from the same publication in 2019, recognizing him as one of Mississippi’s leading attorneys. He is a member of the Mississippi Corporate Counsel Association and the Mississippi Bar. He is also a former member of the Mississippi Ethics Commission (appointed by the chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court).

He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Banking and Finance from Mississippi State University (1992) and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law (1995).

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