Rising Star: Brian Wolfe

Practice Profile: A partner in Davis Polk & Wardwell’s market-leading mergers and acquisitions and private equity groups in New York, Brian Wolfe is recognized by his clients and colleagues as a top talent. Wolfe has made his mark structuring, negotiating and executing large, strategic and complex transactions for his clients, advising on a broad range of public company transactions, private equity deals, joint ventures, and cross-border transactions. Adding to his depth, he guides deals in a wide range of industries including media and telecom, healthcare, financial services and technology.

In the past year alone, Wolfe advised on numerous high-profile deals, including Morgan Stanley’s pending $13B acquisition of E*TRADE; Comcast’s highly publicized agreement with The Walt Disney Company on Hulu’s Future Governance and Ownership (including the “put/call” arrangement with respect to NBCUniversal’s 33% ownership interest in Hulu); Roche’s $4.3B acquisition of Spark Therapeutics and up to $1.4B acquisition of Promedior; and Nutrisystem’s $1.4B acquisition by Tivity Health. He also advised on Comcast’s $40B successful contested acquisition of Sky.

Leadership, Pro Bono & Civic Work: Wolfe is rapidly establishing himself as a thought leader in the legal industry. He contributed to the 2018-2020 editions of Law Business Research Ltd’s Getting the Deal Through: Private M&A, a comprehensive overview of the laws, regulation and market practice governing private M&A transactions in 40 jurisdictions worldwide.

Professional History:

• Davis Polk, 2015-Present
• Associate, 2008-2015
• Law Clerk, Hon. John G. Koeltl, U.S. District Court, S.D. New York, 2007-2008

Education:

• B.A., History, Emory University, 2004
  • with Highest Honors
  • J.D., Stanford Law School, 2007

• Order of the Coif
• Articles Editor, Stanford Law Review

What advice would you give young lawyers? Being smart and having the right answer is the absolute minimum of client service. Delivering that advice clearly and concisely, through the lens of your client’s commercial goals, institutional priorities and particular sensitivities, is what will distinguish you as a trusted advisor.