Meet the 20 most successful M&A bankers of 2025

MergerLinks identified North America's top 20 M&A bankers for 2025, a group that helped drive a renewed burst of dealmaking. Together they negotiated transactions into the tens of billions and helped power a global rebound in M&A that lifted deal value about 50% year over year to roughly $4.6 trillion.

The contested battle for Warner Bros. Discovery emerged as the year's defining transaction: eight of the top 20 bankers advised one side or the other as Netflix and Paramount competed for control. That unusually high concentration of dealmaking firepower around a single, still-unsettled deal had major implications for the banks involved.

Wells Fargo made notable inroads, placing two bankers on the list and claiming the top spot with Jeff Hogan. Hogan, head of global mergers and acquisitions, logged five deals worth $153.4 billion, including advising Netflix on its more than $80 billion bid for Warner Bros.

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