Michael DeSombre, Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell

Today, my guest is Ambassador Michael George DeSombre, a Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell who is recognized as one of the preeminent M&A and private equity lawyers in the world and is a frequent speaker on the art of negotiation. Michael leads the Asia Mergers & Acquisitions practice and also heads both the Korea and Southeast Asia practices for Sullivan & Cromwell. Beginning in 2022, Michael works out of both the Palo Alto office and the Hong Kong Office and is part of the technology M&A team in Silicon Valley.

Michael rejoined the firm in Fall 2021 after having served as the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand from 2020 through 2021. Since moving to Hong Kong in 1997, Michael has focused his practice on public and private merger and acquisition transactions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures and direct investments in China, Korea, Southeast Asia and elsewhere in Asia. He is fluent in Mandarin and has some ability in Korean. Michael holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA and MA from Stanford University.