David Wessels
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| David Wessels | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Co-author, Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies |
| 🏅 Awards | Wharton Teaching Excellence Award Trefftzs Award, Western Finance Association |
David Wessels is an American finance academic and author. He is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and serves as Director of Executive Education.[1] He is a co-author of Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, a corporate finance textbook published by McKinsey & Company that has been described as the seminal text in the field.[2] The book is described as the seminal text in the field.[3]
Education
Wessels earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania.[4] He received his Ph.D. in Finance from UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2000.[5]
Career
Industry experience
Before entering academia, Wessels worked as a technology analyst at HarbourVest Partners in Boston, where he focused on direct investments.[6] He subsequently worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York.[7]
Academic career
Wessels began his academic career on the finance faculty at Emory University's Goizueta Business School.[8] He later joined the Wharton School, where he teaches courses in valuation and venture capital to undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA students.[9] He also holds an adjunct appointment at UCLA Anderson School of Management.[10]
At Wharton, he serves as Academic Director for the CFO Program on Strategic Leadership.[11] He has conducted executive education programs for companies including Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey & Company, Home Depot, BP, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, Novo Nordisk, Siemens, and UPS.[12]
Bloomberg Businessweek named him one of the top business school instructors in the United States.[13]
Publications
Valuation textbook
Wessels is co-author, with Tim Koller and Marc Goedhart of McKinsey & Company, of Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, published by John Wiley & Sons.[14] The book was first published in 1990 and has been updated through multiple editions; Wessels joined as co-author beginning with the fourth edition in 2005.[15] The eighth edition was published in 2025.[16]
The textbook is used in finance courses at business schools including Wharton, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Management, INSEAD, and Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.[17] The Economist included it among influential books about the world economy.[18] A companion workbook and university edition are published alongside each edition.[19]
Other publications
Wessels has published articles in MIT Sloan Management Review, McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey on Finance, TIME, and Schmalenbach Business Review.[20] He co-authored a book chapter with Jonathan Karpoff titled "Large Mergers During the 1990s" in Megamergers in a Global Economy: Causes and Consequences (Quorum Books, 2002).[21]
His research interests include corporate valuation, mergers and acquisitions, organizational structure and financial performance, value-based management, and venture capital.[22]
Media commentary
Wessels has been quoted as an expert on corporate valuation in major publications. He has provided commentary on high-profile initial public offerings and acquisitions, including:
- The Saudi Aramco IPO in The Wall Street Journal (2016)[23]
- Startup valuations in The Wall Street Journal (2017)[24]
- The WhatsApp acquisition in the Los Angeles Times (2014)[25]
- The Facebook IPO on CNN (2012)[26]
- Uber profitability in Knowledge at Wharton (2019)[27]
- Spotify's direct listing in Knowledge at Wharton (2018)[28]
Awards and recognition
Wessels has received the Wharton Teaching Excellence Award annually from 2018 to 2024.[29] He has received the MBA Excellence in Teaching Award multiple times.[30] Other awards include:
- William G. Whitney Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Affiliated Faculty (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016)[31]
- Excellence in Teaching Award, WEMBA San Francisco (2004, 2009, 2011, 2017)[32]
- Trefftzs Award, Western Finance Association (2000)[33]
References
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [1]
- ↑ See McKinsey & Company valuation book page: [2]
- ↑ See The Economist article: [3]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [4]
- ↑ See UCLA Anderson School of Management faculty profile: [5]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [6]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [7]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [8]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [9]
- ↑ See UCLA Anderson School of Management faculty profile: [10]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [11]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [12]
- ↑ See Bloomberg Businessweek article: [13]
- ↑ See McKinsey & Company valuation book page: [14]
- ↑ See McKinsey & Company valuation book page: [15]
- ↑ See Wiley book page: [16]
- ↑ See McKinsey & Company valuation book page: [17]
- ↑ See The Economist article: [18]
- ↑ See Wiley book page: [19]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [20]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [21]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [22]
- ↑ See Wall Street Journal article: [23]
- ↑ See Wall Street Journal article: [24]
- ↑ See Los Angeles Times article: [25]
- ↑ See CNN article: [26]
- ↑ See Knowledge at Wharton article: [27]
- ↑ See Knowledge at Wharton article: [28]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [29]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [30]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [31]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [32]
- ↑ See Wharton School faculty profile: [33]
External links
- Faculty profile at Wharton School
- Faculty profile at UCLA Anderson School of Management
Category:Living people
Category:Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania faculty
Category:UCLA Anderson School of Management faculty
Category:Emory University faculty
Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni
Category:UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni
Category:Corporate finance theorists
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