Why Tom Wiesel Wants to Build Stifel

Thomas W. Weisel has spent four decades as a Silicon Valley dealmaker. Now he's betting that his connections and experience can help him build the Midwestern investment bank Stifel Financial (SF) into a bigger force in technology acquisitions and initial public offerings.

Weisel, 69, took the role of Stifel's co-chairman last month after the company bought his old firm, Thomas Weisel Partners Group (TWPG), for almost $200 million. Stifel helps customers issue stock, raise debt, and buy and sell companies. It also owns brokerage Stifel Nicolaus. Weisel's challenge is to build Stifel's profile among Bay Area venture capitalists, private equity managers, and executives, many of whom haven't worked with the St. Louis-based bank. While mergers have picked up, some companies prefer to use the biggest investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS). Weisel also faces a drought of IPOs.