Nate’s Notes 142: White Shoe Firm Corporate Attorney Todd Mortensen

Thanks for listening to this episode of Meikles and Dimes with Todd Mortenson. I respect and admire Todd as much as anyone, so it was great learning from him today.

First, as a corporate attorney Todd helps CEOs and Boards of Directors act in good faith and be fully informed when buying and selling billion dollar businesses. If the execs fulfill those two requirements, the court will defer to the business judgement rule. Otherwise the courts will use the more stringent entire fairness standard.

Todd also shared some great lessons about life. If you want to be successful at anything, you typically have to work really, really hard at it. This includes embracing the process of improving a little bit each day, week, and year. And if you’re consistent and diligent with your work ethic, overtime you’ll rise to the top.

Lastly, if you’re good to people, doors will open for you. Todd’s managing director at Morgan Stanley taught him that the decisions that would most affect Todd’s career would likely be made when Todd wasn’t in the room. So, Todd needed to make sure that his reputation helped rather than hurt him during those meetings. As Todd learned in Venezuela, “Create fama y echate a la cama” (create fame for yourself, and then go lie down).

In summary, work hard and be good to people. It’s a simple idea. Please take it seriously.

Todd Mortensen Bio:

Todd Mortensen is a corporate attorney in New York City who advises boards of directors, investment banks, and special committees on sell-side, buy-side, public, and private transactions in a wide range of industries. Todd has represented Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays Capital, Wells Fargo Securities, UBS, and Rothschild & Co. among others.

Todd has also worked in a number of investment management roles at Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo. He’s a former professional athlete and speaks fluent Spanish  and earned a JD/MBA from Penn Law School and Wharton.

I hope you enjoy learning from Todd Mortensen today, because I always do.