Dean Woodman (November 4, 1928 – December 19, 2019) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and co-founder of the investment bank

Robertson Stephens Robertson Stephens is a wealth management firm serving high net worth individuals and family offices. The firm is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor. Robertson Stephens was founded as ...

Biography

Woodman was born in 1928BusinessWeek: "Profile - Dean Woodman"
retrieved May 26, 2014 to a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family.Providence Journal: "Alum gives Moses Brown $5 million for performing-arts, community center" By Tatiana Pina
October 18, 2013 In 1946, he graduated from the

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent, Quaker, college preparatory school, currently with 774 students, located in Providence, Rhode Island,offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. Founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker ab ...

and then

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

where he studied economics.Moses Brown School: "More than two thousand members of the MB community were on campus Oct. 17-19 for MB Expo, a celebration of play, passion and purpose"
retrieved May 26, 2014 After college, he served in the

United States Naval Air Corps A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guard ...

. In 1955, he worked in the investment banking division of

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

including 16 years as director of West Coast corporate financing. In 1978, he co-founded investment bank Robertson Colman Stephens & Woodman and in 1982, he co-founded the investment bank Woodman, Kirkpatrick & Gilbreath where he brokered

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

's purchase of

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

. In 1984, Woodman served as managing director in the investment banking group of

Hambrecht & Quist Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q) was an investment bank based in San Francisco, California noted for its focus on the technology and Internet sectors. H&Q was founded by Bill Hambrecht and George Quist in California, in 1968. H&Q was an early player i ...

and in 1988, he served as managing director of the international investment bank ING Barings LLC (and its predecessor Furman Selz). In 1999, he left ING to work as a consultant specializing in financial assignments, private equity and debt placements, and mergers and acquisitions. He is also a director of Medallion Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medallion Financial Corp. In 2002, he provided a $200,000 loan to his son,

Nick Woodman Nicholas D. Woodman (born June 24, 1975) is an American businessman, and the founder and CEO of GoPro. Early life and education Woodman is the son of Concepcion (née Socarras) and Dean Woodman.GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video editing software, video-editing software ...

.Wall Street Journal: "How Family Ties Helped Nick Woodman Make GoPro Click" By Lizette Chapman
June 20, 2013 As of May 2014, he owned 6.4% of GoPro stock.

Philanthropy

In 2013, he donated $5 million to his alma mater,

to build a community and performing arts center at the school. He made the gift in honor of his Quaker family's five-generation commitment to the school where his great-grandfather Augustine Jones served as a headmaster.

Personal life

Woodman's first marriage was to Lavonne Newell, with whom he had one son, Curtis Woodman. Woodman's second marriage was to Concepcion Socarras with whom he had three children including

. In 1992, Concepcion remarried Irwin Federman, General Partner of

U.S. Venture Partners U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is a venture capital investment firm specializing in early-stage ventures in enterprise software, cybersecurity, consumer, e-commerce, healthcare, and IT-enabled healthcare services. The venture capital partnership is ...

.Explore San Francisco: "Bay Area Billionaires 2014"
retrieved May 26, 2014 He was remarried to Jane Woodman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodman, Dean American business executives American investment bankers American Quakers 1928 births Amherst College alumni 2019 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Merrill (company) people American company founders United States Naval Aviators Place of birth missing Moses Brown School alumni