Michael Jacobs

Michael Jacobs teaches the corporate governance classes in the full-time MBA Program at UNC-Chapel Hill.

He is the founder and CEO of Jacobs Capital, an investment banking firm that provides merger and acquisition and business valuation services to middle-market companies. He has managed investment banking departments for several large organizations, and served as director of corporate finance at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he was responsible for national policy in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, corporate governance and certain banking matters.

Professor Jacobs is the author of “Short-Term America” and “Break the Wall Street Rule: Outperform the Stock Market by Investing as an Owner.” He has written articles on corporate finance and corporate governance published by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Nikkei Business, Directors and Boards and CFO, among others. He has appeared on CNBC’s “Smart Money,” CNN and PBS. He also writes a monthly column for the N&O.

The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) named him as one of seven individuals who made the greatest contribution to corporate governance reform.

He is chairman of the board of Cortical Metrics and serves on the board of K2 Solutions, a special operations defense contractor. He previously served on the boards of international environmental engineering firms, consumer products companies and a public safety software firm. He served on the board of trustees of the North Carolina Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System, a $90 billion pension fund, and chaired the North Carolina Coal Ash Management Commission.

Mr. Jacobs received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BSBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler.