Michael Jacobs teaches the Corporate Governance and Business & Government classes in the MBA Program. He also is the faculty advisor to the UNC Investment Banking Club.
He is the founder and CEO of Jacobs Capital, LLC, an investment banking firm that provides merger and acquisition and business valuation services to middle-market companies.
Professor Jacobs 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.
He is the author of “Short-Term America” (Harvard Business School Press, 1991), which was named one of the 10 best business books of the year, and “Break the Wall Street Rule: Outperform the Stock Market by Investing as an Owner” (Addison Wesley, 1993). 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 as a featured guest on CNBC’s “Smart Money,” CNN and PBS.
The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) named him as one of seven individuals who made the greatest contribution to corporate governance reform.
Professor Jacobs is chairman of the board of Cortical Metrics, and director and chair of the audit committee of Biscuitville, and serves on the board of K2 Solutions, a special operations defense contractor. He also serves on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle, the Carolina Ballet and Sovereign's Capital. He is a faculty advisor to Camp Kesem.
He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his undergraduate business degree from UNC Kenan-Flagler.