Bruce Lazear is the Founding Partner of Lazear Capital Partners, a premier middle-market investment bank he established in 1999 to help business owners navigate complex ownership transitions. Under Bruce’s leadership, the firm has become the national leader in advising owners in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Section 1042 tax solutions, and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A).

From the beginning, Lazear’s mission has been to maximize value creation for clients—many of whom are selling a business for the first and only time.

Because most business owners spend their careers building a single company, Bruce believes it’s essential that, when the time comes to transition ownership, they have deeply experienced advisors capable of delivering maximum value. He is passionate about representing owners in the most important transaction of their lives and achieving exceptional outcomes.

An experienced M&A and Tax attorney, Bruce has spent more than 40 years advising entrepreneurial business owners through the most significant financial decisions of their lives. He has successfully led more than 300 transactions, including ESOPs, sell-side and buy-side acquisitions, management buyouts, recapitalizations, and other complex ownership transition engagements.

Bruce is widely recognized for his expertise in ESOPs and Section 1042 tax strategies and is a sought-after speaker on tax-efficient exit planning, business succession and ownership transitions. Working alongside Lazear’s tax team, he has led the development of the firm’s proprietary Section 1042 tax solutions, which have enabled business owners to save more than $5 billion dollars in capital gains tax on the sale of their companies to an ESOP.

Bruce earned his Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University College of Law and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, magna cum laude, with Honors in Liberal Arts and Distinction in Economics from The Ohio State University.