Thomas Weisel, MBA 1966

Thomas “Thom” Weisel, HBS 1966, helped launch Montgomery Securities, a niche investment bank based in San Francisco designed to serve emerging-growth companies on the West Coast. In the 1970s, the idea of an investment bank thriving outside of Wall Street was, as he puts it, “almost blasphemous.” Montgomery Securities became an integral part of the Silicon Valley story, however, and emerged as a top-tier investment bank. Montgomery merged with NationsBank in 1997. Soon after, Thom and several of his original team left to launch Thomas Weisel Partners, which today thrives as a merchant bank for emerging companies. Thom is actively involved in competitive skiing and cycling. He is also a passionate collector of modern art and has built a superb collection; three galleries are named for him at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He talked his deeply rewarding career and interests from his San Francisco office in March 2001. Interviewer: Amy Blitz, HBS Director of Media Development for Entrepreneurial Management.