About Michael Hofer
CFO, dealmaker, and the person who wrote down what he wished someone had told him before his first transaction.
I have been a senior executive at international companies for more than twenty years and currently serve as CFO of a billion-dollar diversified energy company. Before that, I held leadership roles at technology and infrastructure companies in Europe and the United States, running finance and, at various points, legal, IT, HR, supply chain, manufacturing, public relations, facilities, and project management offices.
Mergers and acquisitions have been a focus throughout: more than thirty transactions across four continents, on the buy side and the sell side, for private companies, listed companies, and private equity owners. I have negotiated in English, German, and Spanish, and I learned early that the language you open a meeting in changes the deal you close.
I was born in Salzburg, Austria, have lived in the United States since 2012, and consider myself a citizen of the world.
Training
Ph.D. in Communication Studies
MBA and Master of Science in Accounting
CPA, recipient of the Elijah Watt Sells Award for the CPA exam
Wharton Business School executive education
MIT certificate in artificial intelligence
Colorado Titan 2025 and 2026
Why this book
Most M&A books are written by bankers or professors. This one is written by an operator: someone who had to live with the deal after the advisers went home. It is deliberately an introduction, not a textbook, and it is full of the tips I collected transaction by transaction.
For the latest on M&A methods, my advisory work, and the M&A checklist referenced in the book, visit bymichaelhofer.com. I also write about health and metabolic wellbeing at eat-move-heal.com and healthy-diabetes.com.