David Fox (lawyer)
David Fox is an American lawyer with a specialty in public companies mergers and acquisitions.[1] He was with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for over 20 years, where he was a partner and a member of the executive team before moving to Kirkland & Ellis in 2009.[2]
Early life
[edit]Fox was born in New York City in 1958.[citation needed] His father was Seymour Fox, a rabbi and Jewish educator,[3] and mother was Sarah Kaminker, a city planner.[4] His family immigrated to Jerusalem when he was nine years old.[5]
Career
[edit]At 25, Fox returned to New York, where he began his career with Skadden. Some notable transactions led by Fox at Skadden include the $6.6 billion leveraged buyout of Toys "R" Us and the sale of Aztar Corporation to Columbia Sussex for $2.75 billion.[5]
In 2009, Fox left Skadden for Kirkland & Ellis, where he developed their M&A practice.[6] At the time of his departure, Fox was one of the highest-paid lawyers at Skadden[7] and it marked the first time a partner had left the firm for a competitor.[2] At Kirkland, he oversaw the New York office, was a member of the executive committee and developed the M&A practice,[6] which rose from 90th to first in global M&A rankings and helped the firm become the highest-grossing law firm in the world.[1]
Fox has also been active in the M&A ecosystem of Israel. Some of the Israeli deals he handled include the sale of Koor Industries’s stake in Makhteshim Agan to ChemChina for $2.4 billion and Teva Pharmaceuticals' acquisition of Cephalon for $6.8 billion.[5]
In addition to practicing law, Fox serves on a number of boards and has taught at his alma mater, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[8]
In 2018, The Deal honored Fox with its first ever M&A Lifetime Achievement award.[9] In 2020, he stepped down from the executive committee at Kirkland.[6]
Personal life
[edit]Fox has two brothers, Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox and MIT Linguistics professor Danny Fox.[4] General Yehuda Fox is his cousin.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Fontanella-Khan, James; Indap, Sujeet; Thompson, Barney (6 June 2019). "How a Private Equity Boom Fuelled the World's Biggest Law Firm". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ^ a b Kouwe, Zachery (14 May 2009). "In Sign of Industry Shift, a Legal Giant Loses 2 Top Partners". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Jewish educator Rabbi Seymour Fox dies in Israel". Cleveland Jewish News. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ a b Dromi, Uri (23 January 2003). "'Residents Have Every Right to Design Their Own Neighborhood'". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
- ^ a b c Sikular, Naama (1 March 2012). ""אין כמעט עסקה שדומה לקודמתה. זה לא משחק דמקה שחוזר על עצמו"" [No Deal is Similar to Others]. Calcalist (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv, Israel. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
- ^ a b c Marcus, David (26 June 2020). "Drinks With The Deal: Kirkland's David Fox". The Deal. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ^ Tribe, Meghan; Strom, Roy (7 May 2020). "Wall Street 'Nightmare' Alive as Kirkland Poaches From Wachtell". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "David Fox". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- ^ "The 2018 Deal Award Winners Announced". The Deal. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ As described in this book