Thomas Weisel Partners

The West Coast investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners (TWP), founded by the legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur Thomas Weisel, enjoyed one of the most successful start-ups of a financial services firm in history. Valued at $500 million when it opened for business in January 1999, TWP - which focused its efforts primarily on the technology industry – raked in $662 million in net revenues during its first two years and executed deals for high-profile clients like Yahoo! and MapQuest.com. But in 2001, the private boutique firm was hit hard by the implosion of the dot-com, telecom and technology industries, which comprised the bulk of the TWP’s investment banking business. The downturn in the economy led Weisel to restructure his business; he diversified into healthcare and consumer, built out his PIPES and M&A practices, and reorganized his research department to lessen the focus on the telecom sector. But the firm continued to struggle financially, and its partners were seeing min