Adam Birenbaum assumes the CEO hotseat at Focus Financial, becoming third chief executive in three years as Michael Nathanson steps down in 'plan' he 'designed'

Focus Financial Partners will now employ its third CEO in three years with Michael Nathanson making way for next-in-command, Adam Birenbaum.

Focus says the ouster was “implemented” according to a Nathanson plan.

The New York City rollup named Birenbaum, current president, as chief executive officer less than three years after tapping Nathanson to replace founder and CEO Rudy Adolf.

“Michael's leadership has been central to shaping the evolution of Focus," says Dan Glaser, Executive Chairman of Focus and operating partner of Focus’s majority investment partner, CD&R. 

Birenbaum will also become a member of its Board of Directors, effective Feb. 1, 2026. See: Focus Financial makes 'abrupt' CEO call, lets Rudy Adolf go into 'retirement,' with 'no solution in place;' the eighth RIA chief executive unseated since June as VCs move in -- where is the EBITDA?

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) announced their agreement to take Focus Financial Partners private on Feb. 27, 2023, in a deal valued at over $7 billion, with the acquisition officially closing on Aug. 31, 2023. 

Adolf was gone seven weeks later.

Board dissatisfaction

Birenbaum assumed the "president' role  in April 2025, and concurrently retains the position  at Focus Partners Wealth.

“With more than $520 billion in collective client assets across Focus’s firms, the company is positioned to deliver a level of scale, service, and specialization unmatched in the industry,” the company states in a release.

The company declined to name a specific reason for Nathanson's quick replacement. It neither stated that Nathanson chose to step down nor that it is firing him.

But one industry RIA M&A expert thinks the change had a spontaneous aspect that reflects dissatisfaction at the board level.

“If you read between the lines in the way it was announced and articulated and the timing of things … there are telling signs that he did not orchestrate a timely transition,” the source said on the condition of anonymity.

Louis Diamond, CEO of Diamond Consultants, says he has no inside knowledge about what happened but that losing Nathanson from the executive ranks is a big deal.

“I don’t want to speculate but Michael is a big loss for any organization,” he says.

Shaping the evolution

Focus cites a “succession plan” that was triggered by “change.”

“This change implements a succession plan designed by Mr. Nathanson in consultation with the Board as part of the company’s long-term growth and leadership strategy,” Focus reports. Nathanson is 58 and Birenbaum is 47.

Nathanson implemented a hub strategy based largely on geographical clustering. The idea was to try to achieve scale advantages for 90-plus autonomus units by brining them together in judicious aggregations. See: Focus unwinds another RIA hub and adds, again, to Adam B's internal empire 

That vision remains partially in place but most of the RIAs inside the hubs ended up under the “Focus” hub managed by Birenbaum. See: CD&R again wipes away more vestiges of Focus Financial's 'financial-engineering' legacy by making Adam Birenbaum president, and revealed their 60 RIA ADVs add up to $450 billion

Better value proposition

Birenbaum later stated that Focus would cluster more virtually around capabilities rather than proximity. Birenbaum was not quoted in the release about his promotion to CEO today.

Nathanson did not say Birenbaum is the better choice at CEO but agreed that he is “uniquely positioned” for the next phase, “now that a strong foundation and clear strategy are in place." 

"Adam is a greatly admired and highly respected leader with an impeccable track record of building and leading key strategic initiatives at Focus. His unique skillset, combined with his strong character and commitment, will serve Focus well in the years ahead.”

The anonymous M&A source says that for Focus to succeed, Birenbaum will need to convince CD&R to create a better value proposition.

"The challenge is to avoid traditional PE methods of taking a disproportionate amount of the proceeds in excess of the value they add.  Those will be real.

“Traditional deals say that unless PE gets an IRR [internal rate of return] in excess of 30% and an MOIC [multiple on invested capital] in excess of 2.5x then all other equity holder will get little to no part of any upside.”