Greenhill calls itself “a unique investment banking firm,” and to be sure, it follows a model quite unlike the structure of its behemoth competitors. At Greenhill, independence is the guiding philosophy; because it’s not part of a larger financial institution, the firm avoids the conflicts of interest inherent in those firms. Greenhill’s second rule is focus. It has no research, trading, or lending divisions to distract from its advisory work, which includes mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, financings, capital raisings, and secondary fund investment sales. 

The firm is a relatively young one by Wall Street standards: about 26 years old. In 1996, Robert F. Greenhill, former head of Smith Barney and former president of Morgan Stanley, struck out on his own and founded an eponymous boutique firm. He led the company for 11 years before stepping down as CEO in October 2007.