Steven Booth, Chairman & CEO

Steve Booth is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Baird Financial Group and affiliated entities including Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated. Steve joined Baird’s Investment Banking group in 1994, went on to lead its Industrial and Global M&A teams and, in 2004, became head of Investment Banking, a position he held until January 2014. He was named Chief Operating Officer of Baird in early 2013, became President & COO in 2014, President & CEO in 2016, and Chairman & CEO in 2021.

Prior to joining Baird, Steve was at Kidder, Peabody & Co. in its Chicago Corporate Finance Office. Steve received his MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Southern Methodist University.

Steve is the Chairman of the American Securities Association (ASA)’s Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of The Water Council, the United Performing Arts Fund, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Carmen School of Science and Technology and RiverFront Investment Group, LLC. Steve also serves on the Executive Board of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at SMU, the Executive Board of the Cox School of Business at SMU, and the Board of Regents of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In 2022, Steve was named Wisconsin Business Leader of the Year by the Harvard Business School Club of Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.