Oppenheimer Holdings
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment banking, financial services |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Founder | Max E. Oppenheimer |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Albert G. Lowenthal (Chairman and Executive Chairman), Robert S. Lowenthal (President and incoming CEO) |
| Products | Investment banking, financial advisory, capital markets, asset management, wealth management |
Number of employees | 2,912 (2022) |
| Website | oppenheimer |
Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. is a globally operating American independent investment bank and financial services company. It provides a broad range of services including investment banking, financial advisory, capital markets, asset management, and wealth management. The firm is headquartered at 85 Broad Street in New York City and, as of 2022, maintains 92 branches staffed by 2,912 employees.
History
The company was established in 1950 under the name Oppenheimer & Company by Max E. Oppenheimer, a German-American investment broker who fled Nazi Germany due to his Jewish heritage. Originally functioning as a broker-dealer for major institutional clients, the firm’s roots date back to 1881. In 1975, it reorganized into three separate entities: Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., focusing on retail brokerage; Oppenheimer Capital Corporation, dedicated to institutional investment management; and Oppenheimer Management Corp., which evolved into OppenheimerFunds before being acquired by Invesco.
During the 1980s, the founding partners sought additional capital for expansion and consequently sold the firm in 1983 to British Mercantile House Holdings. Three years later, in 1986, chairman and CEO Stephen Robert along with president Nathan Gantcher led a management buyout acquiring a majority share for $150 million. After British & Commonwealth Holdings took over Mercantile in 1987, senior personnel from Oppenheimer Capital separated from the main company during the 1990s.
By 1995, Robert and Gantcher held approximately 40% ownership of OpCo and aimed to grow internationally through strategic partnerships. Negotiations with ING Groep NV did not materialize, followed by unsuccessful merger talks with Bayerische Vereinsbank and PNC Bank Corp. of Pittsburgh—the latter valuing Oppenheimer close to $500 million. These potential transactions collapsed by mid-1997. Subsequently, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce showed interest in acquiring Oppenheimer to broaden its brokerage operations.
CIBC Oppenheimer
In 1997, CIBC Wood Gundy purchased Oppenheimer Holdings for $525 million and agreed to pay an additional $175 million over three years to retain essential executives. Post-acquisition, the company was rebranded as CIBC Oppenheimer Holdings. In 2003, CIBC divested the retail brokerage division and the Oppenheimer name for $257 million to Fahnestock Viner Holdings, which then adopted the Oppenheimer brand.
Fahnestock Viner Holdings
The origins of Fahnestock Viner date back to Harris C. Fahnestock, a founding figure of a predecessor institution to Citigroup. In 1881, his son William founded Fahnestock & Co. on Wall Street. Over time, this firm expanded and was acquired in 1988 by Toronto-based E.A. Viner Holdings under Albert “Bud” Lowenthal for $7.3 million. The combined organization became known as Fahnestock Viner Holdings.
Before acquiring CIBC Oppenheimer’s retail brokerage arm in 2003, Fahnestock had purchased Josephthal & Co. Inc. in 2001, further extending its market reach. These acquisitions broadened Fahnestock Viner’s product portfolio and client base, reinforcing its position within investment banking and asset management sectors.
CIBC World Markets
On November 4, 2007, CIBC reached an agreement to divest its U.S. domestic investment banking, equities, leveraged finance, and associated debt capital markets divisions to Oppenheimer & Co. This transaction also encompassed CIBC's investment banking and equities operations in Israel, along with select U.S. capital markets units located in the United Kingdom and Asia. The businesses acquired employed more than 700 staff members and produced annual revenues of approximately $400 million. To support this acquisition, Oppenheimer secured $100 million in subordinated debt from CIBC and obtained an initial $1.5 billion lending facility aimed at financing syndicated loans for American middle-market firms. Gerry McCaughey, CIBC’s President and CEO at the time, indicated that the sale would enable the bank to reallocate capital towards expanding its U.S., international, and core Canadian business segments. The transaction was finalized on January 14, 2008.
Settlements with US regulators
In January 2015, Oppenheimer & Co. resolved allegations concerning improper penny stock transactions and insufficient anti-money laundering procedures by agreeing to pay $20 million in civil settlements to U.S. regulatory authorities.
Ownership
By 2020, Oppenheimer’s Class A non-voting shares were publicly traded, whereas chairman Albert G. Lowenthal maintained ownership of 98% of the Class B voting shares. Lowenthal acquired a controlling interest in the predecessor firm Edward A. Viner Holdings (E.A. Viner) in 1985 and has held the CEO position since then, guiding the company’s revenue growth from $5 million to $1.4 billion by 2024. His career began at Cowen & Co. in 1967.
On February 27, 2025, Oppenheimer Holdings announced that Albert Lowenthal would resign as CEO effective May 5, 2025, while continuing as Chairman and Executive Chairman of Opco. Robert S. Lowenthal, who currently serves as President and Head of Investment Banking, is set to assume the roles of CEO and President.
Major locations
United States
International
Business
- Henry Blodget – equity research analyst
- Russ Dallen – Latin American research analyst
- Steve Eisman – equity research analyst
- Israel Englander – billionaire hedge fund manager
- Leon Levy – co-founder of Oppenheimer mutual funds (1959)
- Meredith Whitney – equity research analyst
- Carter Braxton Worth – technical analyst