Scott Adelson Biography

Corporate Finance Career

Scott Adelson

Scott Adelson serves as the CEO of Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, and is an active member of the firm’s board of directors. A seasoned veteran in corporate finance, Adelson is well versed in mergers and acquisitions management. Previously, Adelson served as the Co-President of Houlihan Lokey and Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance, with 35 years of experience at the firm. He is an expert in his field and highly skilled at navigating clients through the challenges of business transition, from mergers and acquisitions to debt and equity capital. Adelson currently operates out of Houlihan Lokey’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

Apart from his duties as CEO, Adelson has vast experience working with clients directly, advising hundreds of companies on diverse and in-depth corporate finance issues. He has written extensively on numerous corporate finance and securities valuation subjects.

Entrepreneurial Efforts

As a serial entrepreneur, Scott Adelson looks for companies that will make a difference in their respective industries and has a talent for seeing their potential. He is driven to build them into something larger with sustainable growth, and his work continues to show extensive success.

Adelson began his entrepreneurial journey by starting two businesses in the apparel and food industries. Since then, he has worked in various industries and is willing to take on nearly any if he believes he can add value. He is also a member of YPO, a community of CEOs that come together with the goal of learning from one another and inspiring each other to be better leaders and better people.

Background and Education

Because Scott Adelson knew early on that he held an interest in business management, he went straight to business school. He attended the University of Southern California, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business and Entrepreneurship. After graduating in 1984, he attended the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to get his Master of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing.

After graduating, he moved on to become part of the Houlihan Lokey team. He has been a major contributor to the growth and culture since joining after graduation in 1987.

History with Houlihan Lokey

Scott Adelson’s rise to CEO was not a quick one, but his growth toward the top was steady and methodical from the very start. Within the first three years of joining the company, Adelson became a Senior Associate and was named Vice President within the Corporate Finance department only a year later. In 1993, he was promoted to Senior Vice President, became a Managing Director in 1995, and was named Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance in 2000. In 2006, he became Senior Managing Director and a member of the board of directors, where he remains today. In 2013, he became the company’s Co-President and Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance for more than a decade. Finally, in 2024, he assumed his current role as CEO.

Few can say they’ve worked in a leading global investment firm for more than two-thirds of its existence. Adelson joined the firm just 15 years after it was founded in 1972 and has been there for more than three decades. Since then, the company has expanded to 36 cities throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.