Larry Grafstein

Larry Grafstein
Born
Laurence Stephen Grafstein
EducationUpper Canada College
Alma mater
OccupationInvestment banker
Employers
Board member of
Spouse
Rebecca Weatherhead
​
(m. 1989)​
FatherJerry Grafstein

Larry Grafstein (born Laurence Stephen Grafstein[1]) is an American investment banker and advisor on mergers and acquisitions. Grafstein has served as the deputy chairman of RBC Capital Markets since 2018.[2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Larry Grafstein is the son of Jerry Grafstein, a former Canadian senator and lawyer, and Carole Grafstein, a member of the Order of Canada.[3][6] He matriculated from Upper Canada College and graduated from Harvard University with Bachelor of Arts in 1982 where he was Executive Editor of The Harvard Crimson.[7][8] He received his Masters in Philosophy from University of Oxford at Balliol, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and president of the Oxford Union.[9][10] He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 1988.[11][3]

Career

Grafstein began his Wall Street career at Wasserstein Perella & Co. in 1990.[12] In 2001, he became the managing director and co-head of technology, media and telecommunications at the investment bank, Lazard Ltd.[13][14][15] In March 2009, Grafstein helped lead the group that bought The New Republic magazine, together with its longtime editor Martin Peretz, from CanWest Communications.[16][17] He also chaired the Advisory Board of The New Republic until the sale of the publication to Facebook co-founder, Chris Hughes in 2012.[18][19][20][21][22]

In 2009, Grafstein joined Rothschild & Co. in New York as a managing director and co-head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).[23][24][25] In September 2012, he joined UBS Group AG as co-head of M&A in the Americas.[26][27][28][29][30][31] Since September 2018, Grafstein has served as the managing director and deputy chairman of RBC Capital Markets.[32][33]

Grafstein is also the chairman of the board of trustees at Horace Mann School,[7] a member of the executive committee of the Wall Street division of UJA-Federation of New York[34] and a member of the board of trustees of the U.S. Foundation of Upper Canada College.[35]

Personal life

Grafstein married Rebecca Weatherhead in 1989.[36][37]

See also

  • List of University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni

References

  1. ^ Basar, Shanny (October 18, 2010). "Investment banker of the Week: Laurence Grafstein - UBS's $600bn man". Financial News. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  2. ^ "DealBook Briefing: Inside McKinsey's Biggest Crisis". The New York Times. June 27, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Posadzki, Alexandra (June 25, 2018). "RBC snags UBS banker Larry Grafstein as deputy chairman". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  4. ^ "RBC's Grafstein Sees Market Caution Amid Fed Uncertainty". Bloomberg. March 9, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  5. ^ Morrell, Alex. "RBC's deputy chairman of investment banking explains why M&A has returned with a vengeance after going dormant last quarter". Business Insider. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  6. ^ "Mrs. Carole Sandra Grafstein". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Sweet, Vivien. "Larry Grafstein becomes the new Chairman of Board of Trustees". The Record. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  8. ^ "Fewer Win U.S. Rhodes Scholarships". The Harvard Crimson. January 6, 1982. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  9. ^ Barbara, Amiel (January 5, 1985). "Larry Grafstein leaves Oxford's debating club , but we'll hear from him again". The Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 5. Retrieved November 12, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Purnell, Sonia (September 22, 2011). Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - A Biography of Boris Johnson. Aurum. ISBN 978-1-84513-741-0.
  11. ^ "Grafstein Lecture in Communications 2023". www.law.utoronto.ca. University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  12. ^ "M&A … and Bruce". The New Republic. October 15, 2009. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  13. ^ Sidel, Robin (July 18, 2001). "Grafstein Joins Lazard In Coup for the Bank". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  14. ^ "Two Bankers Put the Blame on Wall Street". The New York Times. September 29, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  15. ^ "UBS holt sich neuen M&A-Chef für Amerika". finews.ch (in German). August 22, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  16. ^ "Canwest sells magazine to meet debt payments". CTV News. March 9, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  17. ^ Koblin, John (March 6, 2009). "Marty Peretz, Larry Grafstein in Discussions to Buy The New Republic". The New York Observer. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  18. ^ Lizza, Ryan (December 12, 2014). "Inside the Collapse of The New Republic". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  19. ^ Farhi, Paul (May 19, 2023). "Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder, takes over New Republic magazine". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  20. ^ Peretz, Martin (July 11, 2023). The Controversialist: Arguments with Everyone, Left Right and Center. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-63758-228-2.
  21. ^ Waldman, Paul (March 6, 2009). "The Future of The New Republic". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  22. ^ Legg, Heidi (March 25, 2020). "Preserving America's Thought Leader Magazines". Shorenstein Center. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  23. ^ "Grafstein to take top Rothschild US M&A job -WSJ". Reuters. June 15, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  24. ^ O’Donnell, Carl (June 22, 2018). "MOVES-RBC hires veteran banker Grafstein from UBS for senior role -sources". Reuters. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  25. ^ Nast, Condé (March 29, 2010). "Bruce Wasserstein's Last Surprise". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  26. ^ Brumpton, Harry (June 5, 2018). "UBS hires Solon Kentas to lead U.S. consumer and retail M&A". Reuters. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  27. ^ "New York Boutiques Take Center Stage on AT&T-Discovery Megadeal". Bloomberg.com. May 18, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  28. ^ Merced, Michael J. de la (August 21, 2012). "UBS Hires Grafstein as Co-Head of M.&A. in the Americas". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  29. ^ "U.S. tax curbs on debt deduction to sting buyout barons". Reuters. December 21, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  30. ^ Nahl, Lexi (August 16, 2016). "UBS's Grafstein Says M&A Being Spurred by Slow Economic Growth". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  31. ^ "Global M&A volume down, but big US deals driving activity: Grafstein". CNBC. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  32. ^ Morrell, Alex. "2018 has been one of the wildest years in M&A since the financial crisis — here are the 40 biggest investment-banker moves". Business Insider. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  33. ^ Rosenbaum, Joshua; Pearl, Joshua (March 20, 2020). Investment Banking: Valuation, LBOs, M&A, and IPOs. John Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-119-70658-8.
  34. ^ "Wall Street Dinner Dais". UJA-Federation of New York. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  35. ^ "Philanthropic Leadership". Upper Canada College. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  36. ^ Rabines, Amanda (June 2, 2017). "Oceana Bal Harbour | Eduardo Costantini | Bal Harbour unit". The Real Deal. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  37. ^ "Below, getting ready to make their first entrance as a newly married couple are Rebecca Grafstein in a wedding grown of white silk and lace by Milli of Hamilton, and Laurence Grafstein". August 8, 1989. Retrieved November 12, 2025 – via Digital Archive.