Quattrone to set up technology boutique by Finance News Bulletin

Published: 15/04/08

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Frank Quattrone, the controversial financier who rose to prominence during Silicon Valley’s boom years before becoming embroiled in Federal obstruction of justice charges, on Tuesday announced his long-awaited return to finance with the formation for a new advisory boutique.

In a sign of the depth of his personal contacts and continued star power in the technology capital, Quattrone’s reemergence was accompanied by testimonials from some of the Valley’s leading lights, including Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, and Jim Breyer, a venture capitalist behind Facebook.

The launch of Qatalyst Partners, Mr Quattrone’s new firm, “is an important development for the technology industry,” said Mr Schmidt, adding that he personally “look[ed] forward to working with him again.”

The comments echo a persistent refrain heard in the Valley in the five years since Mr Quattrone was forced to step aside to battle Federal charges, and signal vindication for a man who was thought locally to have been made a scapegoat for the excesses of the dotcom years.

Mr Quattrone built his reputation, and a sizeable personal empire, as head of technology banking at Morgan Stanley, before moving with much of his team first to Deutsche Bank and later to Credit Suisse at the height of the tech boom. He was most closely associated with ground-breaking IPOs like the launch of Netscape, and had the ear of many of the Valley’s most powerful CEOs.

Mr Quattrone’s career was derailed, however, after he was charged with obstruction of justice. At the time, his firm’s activities were part of a Federal probe into the way that Valley investment banks had allocated stock in the most sought-after tech IPOs to favoured clients.

After his first trial resulted in a hung jury, the second led to a conviction that was later overturned. Mr Quattrone eventually reached a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid a third trial.Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

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