| Jeffery W. Yabuki |
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Jeffery "Jeff" W. Yabuki is an American businessman and the current Chairman of Motive Partners.[1] He previously served as the CEO of Fiserv, a Fortune 500 Company, from 2005-2020 and the Executive Vice President and COO of H&R Block.[2] [3] [4] In 2019, Yabuki was named among the top 30 most innovative leaders in America by Forbes.[5]
Yabuki was born in the greater Los Angeles, California area as the eldest child of parents who faced significant adversity being American immigrants.[6] His father George is a first-generation Japanese American who was placed in an internment camp for two and half years during World War II.[7] Yabuki attended California State University, Los Angeles.[8]
Yabuki began his career working in public accounting and as a CPA.[9] He spent twelve years working for American Express, where he held a progression of leadership roles and eventually became President and CEO of American Express Tax and Business Services.[10] [11] [12]
Yabuki joined H&R Block in 1999 as President of H&R Block International, where he led tax service operations and the development of financial strategies in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.[13] In 2002, Yabuki became H&R Block’s Executive Vice President and COO, a position he held until 2005.[14]
In 2005, Yabuki joined Fiserv, a global leader in financial services and payment technologies, where he served as CEO, a member of the Board of Directors and as Chairman beginning in 2019.[15] Fiserv achieved substantial financial and business success under Yabuki’s leadership from 2005-2020, nearly tripling in revenue and delivering a shareholder return of 969%.[16] [17] During this time, Fiserv outperformed the S&P 500 Index and saw double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth every year. The company also saw increased associate engagement in the top quartile of all large employers and was routinely named a Fortune World’s Most Admired Company, including nine of the last ten years of his tenure.[18]
Yabuki led Fiserv’s business model and brand transformation from a traditional holding company to an integrated operating company as the organization became the leading global provider of fintech and payment software through the combination of internal investments and strategic acquisitions.[19] [20]
In 2019, Yabuki led the acquisition of First Data in a nearly $40 billion deal, including $22 billion in stock and the assumption of $17 billion in debt.[21] [22] [23] At the time, First Data was also a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest payment processor.[24] The acquisition made Fiserv the largest merchant service platform in the world. The deal also generated significant cost synergies, initially projected at $900 million annually and soon raised to at least $1.2 billion, and was described as a masterclass in mergers & acquisitions by acclaimed portfolio manager David R. Giroux in his book Capital Allocation: Principles, Strategies, and Processes for Creating Long-Term Shareholder Value:[25] When the deal closed Fiserv became a $15 billion a year company with close to 50,000 employees.
In 2018, Yabuki helped lead a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association on a 25-year naming rights agreement for Fiserv Forum, their newly built sports complex.[26] [27] Yabuki participated in the official ribbon-cutting for Fiserv Forum in August 2018 with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Bucks Owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens, Bucks President Peter Feigin, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, and Bucks players and legends including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Khris Middleton, Marques Johnson, Michael Redd, and Steve Novak.[28] [29]
Yabuki retired from Fiserv in 2020, consistent with his belief that organizations benefit from new leadership and fresh perspective. He was succeeded as CEO by Frank Bisignano and as Chairman by Denis J. O’Leary.[30] [31]
In September 2021, Yabuki became Chairman at Motive Partners, a private equity firm founded by Rob Heyvaert focused on control-oriented growth and buyout investments in software and information services companies that serve the fintech industry.[32] [33] [34] [35]
Yabuki is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Nasdaq and the Royal Bank of Canada, and serves as Chairman of Sportradar.[36] [37] [38] In 2021, he was elected as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum, and, in 2023, he joined the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.[39] [40] [41] In 2023, Yabuki was also appointed to the Board of Directors for Project Healthy Minds, a mental health tech non-profit.
In September 2022, Yabuki was named Executive-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Sheldon B. Lubar College of Business, where he teaches courses on fintech and business strategy and serves as a mentor to students.[42] [43]
Yabuki founded The Yabuki Family Foundation in 1999, which supports initiatives with a focus on mental and emotional health, family, education, arts, and social justice.[44]
In July 2021, the foundation jointly announced a $20 million gift to Children's Wisconsin, the largest single gift in the history of the institution, to integrate mental and behavioral healthcare services in primary and urgent care locations.[45] The gift also launched the “Change the Checkup Challenge” – a $5 million match campaign that served as a call-to-action for others to help transform the response to the growing pediatric mental health crisis.[46] [47] The money raised will add at least 36 full-time, master’s-trained mental health therapists at every Children’s Wisconsin primary care office and urgent care location – an effort that has the potential to benefit more than 175,000 kids, roughly a third of the pediatric population in southeastern Wisconsin. The funds also created two endowed mental health research chairs – one focused on studying pediatric mental health and another focused on reducing the rising rate of suicide among children and adolescents.
The gift to Children’s Wisconsin was made in honor of Jeff’s late brother Craig, who died by suicide in 2017 after a lifelong battle with depression. A mental health walk-in clinic was also opened in Craig's name in March 2022, offering help to children and adolescents who are experiencing mental health problems[48]
In 2021, the short documentary “A Brother’s Journey” was produced and released to tell the story behind the foundation’s record-setting gift and underscore the importance of transformational solutions for kids’ mental health. Much of the film is delivered from Yabuki’s perspective, as he describes his family’s journey and their vision to ensure every child has access to the care they need.[49] The documentary won a Midwest Emmy in the category of “Outstanding Achievement for Human Interest – Short Form” at the 64th Annual Chicago / Midwest Emmy Awards held in Chicago on December 3, 2022.[50]
The Yabuki Family Foundation has also supported a number of institutions including the Milwaukee Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Milwaukee Film, American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.[51]