Vice Chairman & Senior Managing Principal, Piper Sandler
Jimmy Dunne is vice chairman and senior managing principal of Piper Sandler. He was one of the founders of Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., which was acquired by Piper Jaffray in January 2020. Under his leadership, Sandler O’Neill grew to become the largest independent full-service investment banking firm focused on the financial services sector.
Sandler was greatly affected by the events of September 11, 2001, when it lost 66 of its 171 employees in the World Trade Center attacks. In the aftermath, Dunne spearheaded the firm’s recovery process and rebuilt it into a market leader.
Dunne, based in the firm’s Palm Beach location, plays a very active role in many of Piper Sandler’s key client relationships and advises on a wide variety of the firm’s mergers and acquisitions. He has advised on some of the financial industry’s largest M&A transactions over the past three decades. Recent transactions he advised on include Cadence Bancorporation’s announced merger with BancorpSouth Bank, Century Bancorp’s announced merger with Eastern Bankshares, TD Ameritrade in its merger with Charles Schwab, Blackhawk Network Holdings in its acquisition by Silver Lake and P2 Capital Partners, Financial Engines in its acquisition by Hellman & Friedman, Virtu Financial in its acquisition of ITG, and FCB Financial Holdings in its merger with Synovus Financial Corp.
Dunne is a frequent financial industry commentator on CNBC and Bloomberg TV and is often invited to speak on leadership and management issues to business, academic and civic organizations.
He began his career on Wall Street after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in economics. In May of 2021, Dunne served as the commencement speaker for Notre Dame and received an honorary doctor of laws degree. He is also a member of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees. Dunne is an avid golfer and active with numerous charitable organizations.