Greg Fleming's Keys to Creating Effective Deals

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- In his career, Greg Fleming has been involved in many deals that have helped transform Wall Street. The spinout of Blackrock from Merrill Lynch, the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America and the conversion of the Rockefeller Family Office into a wealth management firm are just a sampling of his work. Fleming, this week's guest on Masters in Business, was even a central figure in the sale of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins.

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Today, Fleming is the chief executive officer at Rockefeller Capital Management, which manages about $43 billion. He was previously president of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and served as chief operating officer of Merrill Lynch, where he ran the firm's global investment banking business. Understanding how to create transactions where each party gets some of what they want has been the key to Fleming's success.

We discuss how Fleming put together a group headed by New York Yankees great Derek Jeter that successfully purchased the Marlins in 2017 despite some fierce competition. Jeter is the president and minority owner (along with other sports legends), while Fleming owns a small percentage of the team. Fleming explains how the Rockefeller family office was converted into Rockefeller Capital Management. He also discusses how the firm came to offer services that go beyond asset management, such as private aviation, health, personal security, philanthropic and even global rescue.

A list of his favorite books are here; A transcript of our conversation is available here.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, Bloomberg, and Acast. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Catherine Keating, CEO of BNY Mellon Wealth Management, which has more than $266 billion in assets. She was previously chief executive officer of Commonfund. Keating was named to the “Most Powerful Women in Finance” list and one of the “Most Powerful Women in Banking” list by American Banker.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Barry Ritholtz is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and was previously chief market strategist at Maxim Group. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”

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