Frank Quattrone
Frank Quattrone | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Investment banker |
| Known for | Technology banking divisions at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston; founder of Qatalyst Group |
Frank Quattrone (born 1955) is a prominent American investment banker specializing in technology sectors, known for building influential technology banking divisions at firms such as Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse First Boston. During the 1990s technology surge, he was instrumental in taking numerous tech companies public, including Netscape, Cisco, and Amazon.com. Subsequently, he encountered legal challenges related to allegations of obstructing a government inquiry into Credit Suisse First Boston's IPO allocation practices; however, the charges were ultimately dropped. At the height of his career, Quattrone's annual earnings reached an estimated $120 million. He is currently the founder and head of the investment banking firm Qatalyst Group, established in March 2008.
Life and career
Raised in Philadelphia, Quattrone attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School on an academic scholarship. He earned honors at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and later completed his MBA at Stanford University. His professional journey began within Morgan Stanley’s technology investment banking division.
In 2003, Quattrone became involved in a widely publicized trial concerning emails purportedly connected to Credit Suisse First Boston’s grand jury investigation. The initial trial concluded with a deadlocked jury; the subsequent trial led to a conviction. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed this conviction on appeal due to flawed jury instructions, citing the Supreme Court ruling in Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States. The appellate court also mandated that any further legal proceedings be overseen by a different judge.
On August 22, 2006, Quattrone entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, which prevented incarceration and effectively cleared him of wrongdoing. Charges from the National Association of Securities Dealers were also dismissed. Reports suggested that he was to receive between $100 million and $550 million in deferred compensation, contingent upon adherence to legal conditions for one year. Credit Suisse assumed responsibility for his legal fees.
Since 2004, Quattrone and his wife Denise have been supporters of the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) at Santa Clara University School of Law. He holds the position of Chair on the NCIP Advisory Board and actively participates in fundraising efforts for the organization. In March 2008, Quattrone was honored with the Leadership Award at NCIP’s inaugural Justice for All Awards Dinner.
Qatalyst Group
Quattrone founded Qatalyst Group in March 2008 as a boutique corporate advisory firm focused exclusively on technology clients. Shortly after its inception, Qatalyst was reported to be advising Google regarding its bid to acquire Yahoo amidst competition involving Microsoft.
Since then, Qatalyst has orchestrated several significant transactions, including representing Data Domain during its acquisition by EMC—securing nearly double the initial offer—and advising Palm in its sale to Hewlett-Packard.
Following these successes, Qatalyst managed the competitive bidding process for 3Par, culminating in Hewlett Packard paying more than twice its market valuation. Other notable storage industry deals led by Qatalyst in 2010 included Netezza’s acquisition by IBM and Isilon’s purchase by EMC.
In 2011, Qatalyst provided advisory services on numerous high-profile transactions: Riot Games’ sale to Tencent; Kosmix’s acquisition by Walmart; Atheros’ sale to Qualcomm; Zong’s purchase by eBay; PopCap’s acquisition by EA; National Semiconductor’s sale to Texas Instruments; Autonomy’s sale to Hewlett Packard; Motorola Mobility’s acquisition by Google; and Netlogic’s purchase by Broadcom.