Ralph Eads
Vice Chairman, Jefferies & Co.
Ralph Eads is chairman of Jefferies Energy Investment Banking and vice chairman of Jefferies & Co., Inc. His extensive M&A experience includes working on over $100 billion in energy M&A transactions, including several large gas shale joint ventures for Chesapeake Energy, the sale of East Resources to Shell, the merger of XTO Energy with ExxonMobil, and Atlas Energy's sale to Chevron. Eads also has a broad-based background in structured energy finance, having worked on numerous MLPs, production payment financings, royalty trusts, as well as many high-yield transactions. Prior to joining the firm, Eads was executive vice president of El Paso Corp where he was responsible for its unregulated businesses. Previously, he was head of the Energy Group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and has held senior positions at S.G. Warburg and Lehman Brothers. Eads serves on the board of trustees of Duke University. He received a B.S. in economics, with high honors, from Duke University.
