David Heleniak

Retired–Former Vice Chairman, Morgan Stanley; Former Senior Partner (CEO), Shearman & Sterling

David Heleniak spent most of his career at New York law firm Shearman & Sterling (S&S), rising to be Senior Partner (CEO) in 2001. In 2005, Morgan Stanley asked him to be its Vice Chairman and a member of its Management Committee. He retired as Senior Advisor in 2018.

While at S&S, Heleniak focused on mergers and acquisitions and headed or co-headed its practice group for ten years. During that time, in addition to approximately $1 trillion of other transactions, he represented Sandoz and Citicorp in the creation of Novartis and Citigroup, the two largest mergers ever done at the time. Earlier in his career at S&S, Heleniak headed the firm's Hong Kong office from 1981-84 and represented China in its first major transaction with the Western world, a joint venture with Occidental Petroleum.

From 1977-79, Heleniak served the Carter Administration in the Treasury Department, first as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary and then as the Assistant General Counsel. Among numerous other matters, he negotiated "Carter Bonds" with the German and Swiss Central Banks, the first time the United States issued foreign currency denominated bonds publicly abroad.

Heleniak has been active in many not-for-profit organizations: in education advisory boards at Michigan (LSA, Provost, African Studies Center, University Musical Society), the London School of Economics, Columbia Law School, Emory and Tulane; in civic affairs, NYC Partnership and its Investment Fund; in bilateral associations, Chairman of the Counsel for the United States & Italy and of Japan Society of New York; in the arts, President of NYC Ballet and of the MacDowel Artists Colony; and in social service, Room to Grow (chairman), In Motion, and Legal Aid Society.

He received an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and J.D. from Columbia University. Heleniak is an Honorary Fellow of the LSE.