Gerald Risk

Gerald Risk is an entrepreneur, investor, and educator.

Risk teaches S543, “Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition,” and S549, “Search Fund Garage.” These courses explore the path to entrepreneurship through buying a company or multiple companies over time and operating them as a CEO. S543 and S549 augment and draw upon other courses taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business about forming and managing new enterprises.

Risk draws on his passion for helping young people build their leadership and entrepreneurial capabilities. His instruction pulls from his experience in various roles as an operator, leader, mentor, board member, and investor.

Currently, Risk spends most of his time supporting entrepreneurs as an investor. He has invested in over 100 search fund or operating companies acquired through a search fund vehicle, as well as several other startup and entrepreneur-led companies. Through these investing activities, Risk serves on the board of a variety of private companies and regularly mentors and coaches CEOs.

Earlier in his career, Risk was a key member of the management team that built Asurion, the world’s largest provider of technology protection services, serving more than 250 million consumers globally. Over his fifteen years of operating at Asurion, he served as the company’s president and as chief financial officer prior to that. During Risk’s tenure, Asurion’s revenue grew from $15 million to greater than $3.5 billion.

Risk and his family are actively involved in education philanthropy more broadly. He is a former Board Chair and Trustee of the Nueva School.

Risk began his professional career with Goldman, Sachs & Co. He holds an MBA from Stanford, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Queen’s University in Canada.

Risk lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two sons.