Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> February 24, 2003
WILLIAM R. HAMBRECHT is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
WR Hambrecht + Co, a financial services firm headquartered in San
Francisco that he founded in January 1998. Mr. Hambrecht resigned
in December 1997 as Chairman of Hambrecht & Quist, the investment
banking firm he co-founded with the late George Quist in 1968.
Using impartial Internet-based auctions that allow the market to
determine pricing and allocation, WR Hambrecht + Co is
dramatically changing the financial services landscape. WR
Hambrecht + Co currently has 125 employees and offices in New
York, Boston and Philadelphia. Excluding a tour of duty in the
military, Mr. Hambrecht has been in the investment banking and
brokerage business since graduating from Princeton University in
1957. He began his business career in underwriting and sales with
Securities Associates, Inc., a securities firm in Winter Park,
Florida. In 1961 Securities Associates was acquired by AC Allyn &
Co., which eventually became a part of F.I. du Pont & Co. In
1965, Mr. Hambrecht managed the San Francisco office for F. I. du
Pont, becoming Vice President and Manager of its West Coast
Corporate Finance operation in 1967. It was through his corporate
finance activities that he met George Quist who was the head of
small business lending at Bank of America. Both men perceived a
demand for a strong regional investment bank based in San
Francisco that could offer a high level of service to the small,
rapidly growing companies in nearby Silicon Valley. In the early
1970s he became directly involved in the then fledgling venture
capital business as a result of H&Q's investment banking
expertise and network of clients. This was an obvious extension
of its existing business, since many investment banking clients
required both capital and strategic assistance prior to becoming
publicly listed. Mr. Hambrecht currently serves as Director for
numerous private companies, including KQED, Inc., San Francisco's
public radio and television station. He is also in the wine
business. In addition to owning over 500 acres of vineyards on
over 1,000 acres of land in Sonoma County, Hambrecht Wine Group
owns Belvedere Winery in Healdsburg. Profile
Mr. Hambrecht: We have a firm now that started as almost an
auction house. In other words, we started out to develop a
