Dive Brief:

• Ken Moelis, the CEO and co-founder of investment bank Moelis & Company who has been at the helm since 2007, will step down from his role and become executive chairman effective Oct. 1, the company announced Monday.
• Navid Mahmoodzadegan, co-founder and co-president, will become the CEO and join the board.
• Jeff Raich, co-founder and co-president, will become the New York-based firm’s executive vice chairman and continue to head key businesses, the company said.

Dive Insight:

The recent executive changes are part of the company’s long-term leadership transition planning, Moelis noted in a statement.

“I have never felt better about our Firm and the opportunities ahead,” he said Monday. “Navid is a founder of our Firm and has been a trusted partner to me for 30 years. As Co-President, he has been involved in every major decision we have made and has been a key driver of our Firm’s most impactful strategic growth initiatives.”

Mahmoodzadegan, who has co-led the firm’s investment banking business, has the full support of the Moelis board to drive growth and invest in next generation talent, the outgoing CEO noted. Raich’s leadership will be “critical” in the firm’s next chapter, Moelis said. 

“Navid, Jeff, and I share a long-term vision and deep commitment to fostering a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment that prioritizes exceptional client service and innovation,” Moelis added.

The company was founded in 2007 when Moelis, a former president of UBS’ investment bank, poached Mahmoodzadegan and Raich from his former employer to help build the new firm. The investment bank went public in 2014.

Moelis, who is also the chairman of the company, was offered a $25 million retention bonus in February “to maintain continuity and stability in the Company’s leadership in the coming years.” The limited partnership award will vest fully if the executive stays with the company until February 2029.

Moelis expects handing the baton to be the “smoothest transition ever in the history of Wall Street,” he told The Wall Street Journal. 

The incoming CEO, a 30-year banking veteran, was the global head of media investment banking at UBS prior to joining Moelis. He was also an investment banker at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and an attorney at Irell & Manella, according to Mahmoodzadegan’s LinkedIn profile. 

“As we move forward, we will continue to put clients first – that has always been the key to the Firm’s long-term success and achieving outstanding results for our shareholders. We have never been better positioned to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities ahead,” Mahmoodzadegan said in a prepared statement Monday.

Raich, a merger and acquisitions expert, was the joint global head of M&A at UBS and head of West Coast M&A at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette before co-founding Moelis with his two former colleagues, according to Raich’s LinkedIn profile. 

Mahmoodzadegan and Raich were named co-presidents of the company in September 2015.  

Moelis grabbed attention last year when Jonathan Kaye, a banker at the firm, was filmed punching a woman in the face amid a Pride celebration in Brooklyn in June. Kaye, a managing director who led Moelis’ business services franchise, was put on leave after the 10-second video went viral and left the firm soon after.

In February, Kaye pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor charges, including assault. 

The next month, Kaye joined investment firm Rothschild & Co. as the global co-head of business services of its North America unit to help the firm expand its North America global advisory business.