Richard S. Ruback

Richard S. Ruback is an American economist, academic, and author and is currently the Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance at the Harvard Business School. He previously taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Before joining Harvard Business School, he taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His doctoral training and early academic work helped shape his later research interests in mergers, takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and applied corporate finance.

Career Richard S. Ruback began his academic career in the field of corporate finance, teaching at the MIT Sloan School of Management before joining Harvard Business School. At Harvard, he became a member of the finance faculty and taught senior academics, including the Baker Foundation and Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance, emeritus.

Ruback's teaching and research have focused on applied corporate finance, valuation, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and the markets for corporate control. He has written and co-written academic articles, business cases, and teaching materials used in finance education. His work has examined how companies are valued, how acquisition transactions are structured, and how financial decisions affect corporate strategy.

Award and Recognition Richard S. Ruback has been recognized through senior academic appointments at Harvard Business School, including the titles of Barker Foundation Professor and Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance, Emeritus. These appointments reflect his long-standing role in corporate finance scholarship and business education.

He is also recognized for his work in finance and valuation, particularly in relation to mergers, takeovers, leverages, buyouts, and the markets for corporate control. Outside traditional academic publishing, Ruback has gained wider professional recognition through his work on entrepreneurship through acquisition, including his co-authored book HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business with Royce Yudkoff.

Publicly available sources do not appear to list major standalone awards for Ruback, so this section should focus on his named professorships, academic reputation, published research, and contribution to business education.

Research Richard S. Ruback's research has focused on corporate finance, valuation, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and the market for corporate control. His academic work has examined how companies are valued, how takeover transactions are structured, and how financial decisions influence corporate strategy. Rucback has written and co-written research papers, Harvard Business School case studies, and teaching materials used in finance education. His work has contributed to discussions on acquisition pricing, shareholder value, capital structure, and the finance analysis of public and private entrepreneurship Through acquisition. This area studies how individuals search for, acquire, finance, and operate small businesses. which presents a practical framework for entrepreneurships interested in acquiring and managing small companies. His research combines academic finance theory with practical business application, particularly in valuation, deal structure, ownership transition, and small-business acquisition.

Selected Works

HBR Guide to a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company (with Royce Yudkof, 2017) The Valuation of cash flow Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis" (With Steven Kaplan, 2017) "An Overview of Takeovers Defenses" (1988) Calculating the Markets Value of Risky Debt" (with Stewart C. Myers, 1987)