Frank Quattrone
Encyclopedia
Frank Quattrone is an American technology-focused investment banker who started technology sector franchises at Morgan Stanley
, Deutsche Bank
, and Credit Suisse First Boston
. He helped bring dozens of technology companies public during the 1990s tech boom, including Netscape
, Cisco
, and Amazon.com
. Later, he was prosecuted for interfering with a government probe into Credit Suisse First Boston
's behavior in allocating "hot" IPO
s. The case was eventually dropped. He was earning roughly $120 million a year during his peak at the firm. Quattrone is now head of merchant banking
firm Qatalyst Group, which he founded in March 2008.
of the University of Pennsylvania
and graduated with honors. Following business school at Stanford University
, he began work at Morgan Stanley's
technology investment banking group.
In 2003, Quattrone was confronted with evidence of allegedly incriminating emails in a widely publicized series of trials. The first trial resulted in a hung jury
. The second trial resulted in a conviction. On appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Quattrone's conviction, ruling, based in part upon the Supreme Court case Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States
that Quattrone's jury had been given erroneous jury instructions. The appeals court also agreed with the defense that in the interest of justice, subsequent proceedings should take place in front of a different judge.
On August 22, 2006, Quattrone reached a deferred prosecution agreement
and will not face prison time, "leading legal observers to label the agreement an exoneration." The National Association of Securities Dealers also dropped their charges. He now "plan[s] to resume [his] business career." According to reports, Mr. Quattrone will receive $100 million to $550 million in overdue compensation, so long as he abides by an agreement and does not break the law for a year. Credit Suisse already paid for Quattrone’s legal costs.
Since 2004, Frank Quattrone and his wife Denise have supported The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) based at Santa Clara University School of Law
. Quattrone is Chair of the NCIP Advisory Board and an active fund-raiser for the project. At the NCIP inaugural Justice for All Awards Dinner in March 2008, Quattrone accepted the Leadership Award. In his acceptance speech, he referred to his motivation for supporting the Innocence Project—that at the very moment he was found guilty of the government's charges, he realized that there must be other innocent people who were in prison but unlike him they lacked the resources to fight for justice.
Qatalyst has since advised on some of the most high-profile assignments in the industry. It represented Data Domain
on its sale to EMC, nearly doubling the firm's purchase price, and represented struggling mobile device maker Palm in its sale to Hewlett Packard.
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
, Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
, and Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston was the former name of the banking firm Credit Suisse.-History:In 1978, Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation formed a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture called the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston...
. He helped bring dozens of technology companies public during the 1990s tech boom, including Netscape
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
, Cisco
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
, and Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
. Later, he was prosecuted for interfering with a government probe into Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston was the former name of the banking firm Credit Suisse.-History:In 1978, Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation formed a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture called the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston...
's behavior in allocating "hot" IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
s. The case was eventually dropped. He was earning roughly $120 million a year during his peak at the firm. Quattrone is now head of merchant banking
Merchant bank
A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
firm Qatalyst Group, which he founded in March 2008.
Life and career
Quattrone grew up in Philadelphia and attended St. Joseph's Preparatory School on an academic scholarship. He was admitted to the Wharton SchoolWharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and graduated with honors. Following business school at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, he began work at Morgan Stanley's
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
technology investment banking group.
In 2003, Quattrone was confronted with evidence of allegedly incriminating emails in a widely publicized series of trials. The first trial resulted in a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
. The second trial resulted in a conviction. On appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Quattrone's conviction, ruling, based in part upon the Supreme Court case Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States
Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States
Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously overturned accounting firm Arthur Andersen's conviction of obstruction of justice on the basis that the jury instructions did not properly portray the law Andersen was charged...
that Quattrone's jury had been given erroneous jury instructions. The appeals court also agreed with the defense that in the interest of justice, subsequent proceedings should take place in front of a different judge.
On August 22, 2006, Quattrone reached a deferred prosecution agreement
Deferred prosecution agreement
A deferred prosecution agreement is a voluntary alternative to adjudication in which a prosecutor agrees to grant amnesty in exchange for the defendant agreeing to fulfill certain requirements...
and will not face prison time, "leading legal observers to label the agreement an exoneration." The National Association of Securities Dealers also dropped their charges. He now "plan[s] to resume [his] business career." According to reports, Mr. Quattrone will receive $100 million to $550 million in overdue compensation, so long as he abides by an agreement and does not break the law for a year. Credit Suisse already paid for Quattrone’s legal costs.
Since 2004, Frank Quattrone and his wife Denise have supported The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) based at Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law
The Santa Clara University School of Law is the law school of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, in the Silicon Valley region. The School of Law was founded in 1911...
. Quattrone is Chair of the NCIP Advisory Board and an active fund-raiser for the project. At the NCIP inaugural Justice for All Awards Dinner in March 2008, Quattrone accepted the Leadership Award. In his acceptance speech, he referred to his motivation for supporting the Innocence Project—that at the very moment he was found guilty of the government's charges, he realized that there must be other innocent people who were in prison but unlike him they lacked the resources to fight for justice.
Qatalyst Group
In March 2008, Quattrone founded Qatalyst Group, a high-end corporate advisory firm focused on technology. Almost immediately after the firm issued its founding press release, it was reported to be advising Google on the Yahoo takeover deal pending with Microsoft. The article reporting the collaboration said: "That Mr. Schmidt (CEO of Google Inc.) would call on Mr. Quattrone is no surprise. The two men have worked together for years, and Mr. Schmidt was even quoted in the press release announcing the creation of Qatalyst (Mr Quattrone's new consulting and investment banking venture) 'I look forward to working with him again and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst’s prospects for success.'"Qatalyst has since advised on some of the most high-profile assignments in the industry. It represented Data Domain
Data domain
In data management and database analysis, a data domain refers to all the unique values which a data element may contain. The rule for determining the domain boundary may be as simple as a data type with an enumerated list of values....
on its sale to EMC, nearly doubling the firm's purchase price, and represented struggling mobile device maker Palm in its sale to Hewlett Packard.