Richard Patton

Richard C. Patton is the founder, chairman, and chief investment officer of Courage Capital Management, LLC, a Nashville-based alternative asset management firm he established in July 1998. The firm manages private funds for institutional investors and family offices and, as of March 2024, reported roughly $1.14 billion in discretionary assets under management across a small base of about nine clients. Courage today concentrates on three specialized strategies: healthcare investing, music-rights/royalty acquisitions, and small-business financing.

Before founding Courage, Patton spent 1996–1998 at Ingram Industries, where he formed and operated Woodmont Capital, LLC, a vehicle focused on special-situations investing in both private and public market securities. Earlier, from 1992 to 1994, he was a portfolio manager and analyst at Fidelity Investments, and he spent 1994–1996 as a private investor. Earlier still in his career, Patton founded and served as CEO of a restaurant group, which he ultimately sold.

Patton holds a B.S. in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Over his career he has served on numerous corporate boards, including Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company (workwear), Krystal Restaurant Group, Blessings Corp. (packaging), Ingram Barge Company, Permanent General Insurance, and Reddy Ice Corporation. He is also active civically in Nashville, with board service including the Beacon Center of Tennessee, the Nashville Humane Association, the Nashville Zoo, and the American Red Cross (Nashville region).

• Operates as a private-fund manager for institutional investors and family offices, not as an individual angel writing seed checks.
• Three core strategies per the firm: Healthcare Investing, Music Rights Acquisitions (music royalties/catalogs), and Small Business Financing — the latter two structured largely as private-debt/private-credit strategies.
• Roots in "special situations investing in private and public market securities," a discipline Patton carried from Woodmont Capital into Courage.
• Also maintains a public-equity book (disclosed via 13F filings), historically concentrated in healthcare and consumer/real-estate names.
• Values-oriented and long-horizon in posture; the firm's public identity ("Courage") and Patton's civic board work emphasize conviction-driven, contrarian positioning.