Ken Moelis stepping down to Executive Chairman?

"Founder Ken Moelis, who has served as Chief Executive Officer since the Firm’s inception in 2007, will assume the role of Executive Chairman and will continue to focus on advising clients on their most critical strategic decisions. Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Co-Founder and Co-President, will succeed Ken as Chief Executive Officer and will also join the Board of Directors. Jeff Raich, Co-Founder and Co-President, will become Executive Vice Chairman of Moelis and will continue to lead key business areas of the Firm."

as per their recent press release. 

30 Comments
 

They will keep getting overhyped on places like WSO due to good exits, but as a career banker no reason whatsoever to go to a place like MOE. 

(1) You'll be working, for the most part, on subpar quality deals, (2) Comp will only be top if you grind like a maniac, (3) No brand recognition outside of finance (even an average BB like Barclays or Deutsche will be more known than a MOE, especially if you go international), (4) Ability to build a client book is limited at best (good luck building relationship with clients based on your "superior strategic advise"). 

 
Controversial

Ken's rolodex has been dwindling. I wouldn't be surprised if the firm will go bust in a couple of years, their only edge where they can truly compete on top mandates is in the media/entertainment space (RX too, but that alone won't be able to carry the firm. They need the M&A/strategic advisory side to lead things). Other than these fields, the firm scraps for mediocre MM or even LMM mandates

 
Most Helpful

Lol this forum is pathetic. Moelis stock hit ATHs less than 3 months ago. Revenue is up year over year. Headcount is at all time high. There have been multiple groundbreaking deals in the past year including Rhode, Nordstrom, Skydance, NY Giants, etc. Momentum in tech, healthcare, and RX. Exits are strong for most recent class. Ken isn’t even leaving – he’s just not going to be running day to day operations but will still meet with clients.

 

What a tool. Enjoy the MOE kool-aid bro. On the skydance deal there were like 20 advisors and the Nordstorm deal is decent, nothing more. Other than some media deals, MOE doesn't do any large-cap / prominent strategic work. Who tf are we fooling

 

Such a dumb comment lol. Rev is up YoY for most shops, same for stock price and headcount. Not clear how is that indicative of the overall trajectory of the firm post-Ken Moelis

 

No skin in the game here but why are Moelis analysts on this site so obsessed with being seen as a peer of Lazard? Reminds of when people at certain colleges try to associate themselves with what they see as the tier above lol.

 

It’s not even like he’s leaving. He’s transitioning some management responsibilities to spend more time with clients. It’s probably good for the brand.

Moelis has never been my cup of tea - too many randos, low payout, high overheads. But Ken is a generationally great banker and it’s impressive what’s he’s built. 

 

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