Private Equity Videos

Lessons in Leadership, Ethics, and Legacy From the Thomas Farrell Memorial Awards Honorees

The episode of the M&A Advisor podcast spotlights the 2025 Thomas Farrell Memorial Award honorees, focusing on Jacob For, a dairy‑farm‑born investment banker turned co‑founder of Capstone Partners. Host Roger Agenaldo frames the conversation around leadership, ethics, and legacy, bringing together four of the six original award winners—David Deutsch, Tony Kudel, Bobby Blumenthal, and Ramsey Goodrich—to extract lessons from their varied careers. Jacob recounts a non‑traditional path: a childhood on a modest Iowa dairy, a brief stint aiming for veterinary school, and a serendipitous entry into investment banking via a college advisor’s connection. He describes how the grueling 100‑hour weeks felt routine after years of early‑morning milking, and how the sudden downfall of Arthur Andersen in the early 2000s became a crucible for his entrepreneurial spirit, leading to the creation of Capstone Partners with a former colleague. The dialogue weaves in David Deutsch’s 1984 Columbia Business School address, emphasizing the need for guided yet instinct‑driven decision‑making, and Tony Kudel’s dual role as CEO of Red Tail Capital and adjunct professor of finance and business ethics. Their anecdotes illustrate that strong relationships, ethical grounding, and the ability to pivot across industries are as vital as technical expertise in the M&A arena. Collectively, the conversation underscores that resilience born from humble origins, strategic networking during industry turbulence, and a commitment to ethical leadership are the hallmarks of enduring success in dealmaking. For practitioners, the takeaways reinforce the importance of cultivating diverse experiences, maintaining integrity, and leveraging crises as opportunities for innovation.