Kenneth D. Moelis (born 1958) is an American
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
investment banker, and founder of
Moelis & Company
Moelis & Company is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments, and financial sponsors. The firm advises on strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restruct ...
, an
investment banking
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...
firm.
Early life and education
Moelis was born in 1958, the son of Gaye (née Gross) and Herbert I. Moelis, president of Equity Leasing Corporation, an office equipment company in New York, of which his grandfather, Paul I. Gross was its retired president.
His father is also a breeder of thoroughbred race horses at his CandyLand Stables in
Middletown, Delaware
Middletown is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town is 18,871.
Geography and climate
Middletown is located at (39.4495560, –75.7163207) with an elevation of .
According t ...
. Moelis holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Masters of Business Administration from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private Ivy League rese ...
.
[$5 Million from Alumni Julie and Ken Moelis to Support Wharton Sports Business Initiative](_blank)
University of Pennsylvania Almanac, March 4, 2008
Career
Moelis began his career at
Drexel Burnham Lambert
Drexel Burnham Lambert was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, it was a ...
in 1981 where he would ultimately serve as a managing director working for
Michael Milken
Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony charges for vio ...
in the firm's Los Angeles office. Following the collapse of Drexel, Moelis left with a portion of his team to join
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette where he served as head of its corporate finance investment banking division. Under Moelis, DLJ emerged as a prominent investment banking firm in Los Angeles in the 1990s.
Following the acquisition of DLJ by
Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) is the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York.
The company was created by the merger of First Boston, First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse, ...
in 2000, Moelis was named head of US investment banking of the combined firm in September 2000. However, his tenure at CSFB would be short, announcing his departure for UBS (then known as
UBS Warburg
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
) just months later taking the core of his team with him, including a number that would later join Moelis & Company. Moelis recruited more than 70 senior investment bankers to UBS within three months of his arrival.
In his six years at UBS, Moelis ultimately assumed the role of president of
UBS Investment Bank
UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Sw ...
and was credited with the build-out of UBS's investment banking operation in the United States. By the end of 2006, UBS was ranked Top 4 in the global fee pool for the first time.
Moelis founded
Moelis & Company
Moelis & Company is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, governments, and financial sponsors. The firm advises on strategic decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restruct ...
along with several fellow senior UBS investment bankers that included Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeff Raich, John Momtazee, Todd Wadler, Elizabeth Crain and
Warren Woo.
Other affiliations
Moelis received both his undergraduate degree and MBA from
The Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
in 1981.
Today he is a member of the Wharton board of overseers. Moelis is chairman of the
Tourette Association of America
The Tourette Association of America (TAA), based in Bayside, New York, United States, is a non-profit voluntary organization and the only US health-related organization serving people with Tourette syndrome. It was founded in 1972 as the Tourette S ...
and is on the board of governors of
Cedars Sinai Hospital
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
. Moelis is a member of the
Hillcrest Country Club. In 2011, 2014, and 2016, he was included in the
50 Most Influential ranking of
Bloomberg Markets
''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial mar ...
magazine.
Personal life
In 1983, Moelis married Julie Lynn Taffet in a Jewish ceremony at the Sephardic Temple in
Cedarhurst, New York
Cedarhurst is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 6,592 at the 2010 census.
The Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst is located in the region o ...
.
His sister,
Cindy S. Moelis, was appointed director of the Presidential Commission on
White House Fellows
The White House Fellows program is a federal fellowship program established via Executive Order by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964, based upon a suggestion from John W. Gardner, then the president of Carnegie Cor ...
and is married to
Robert S. Rivkin who was appointed by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
as the 21st General Counsel of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT)
References
External links
The dealer's got a hot hand Los Angeles Business Journal, October 21, 1991
Ken Moelis Waits for Bat Phone to Ring as Wall Street Rebounds Bloomberg, August 10, 2009
The Networker: Dealmaker, April/May 2008
Check Your Premises: An Objectivist's View of the Modern World Adam Smith Institute YouTube Channel, December 2, 2015
Fortune, April 14, 19967
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moelis, Ken
1958 births
Living people
American investment bankers
Jewish American bankers
Drexel Burnham Lambert
UBS people
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni
Objectivists
American billionaires
Moelis family
American company founders