Ben Lehrer
Ben Lehrer is the Founder & CEO of First Water Finance (FWF), as well as the Head of Learning & Development for The CFO Alliance, the premier nationwide peer group community of finance leaders. With two decades of experience spanning private equity, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), investment banking, C-suite and board advisory, consulting, and finance learning and development programs, Ben is an impactful resource and advocate for finance professionals, management teams, business owners, and capital partners across the small and midsize business (SMB) and private equity communities.
Prior to founding First Water, Ben served in multiple institutional investment roles in New York City. He was a member of the Private Equity team at Fortress Investment Group, part of the Global Structured Solutions Group within Fixed Income Capital Markets at Citigroup, and an Investment Officer for credit opportunities and internal M&A at CapitalSource Finance. Over the course of his career, Ben has personally supported almost 100 different management teams, sponsors, advisors, and partners, while also leading and facilitating a wide variety of debt and equity transactions ranging from $1MM to $1BN+.
Ben graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a holder of multiple FINRA securities licenses, an Eagle Scout, and the author of the book Relational Finance: The New Model to Accelerate Growth, Attract Capital, and Maximize the Value of Your Business. He resides in Houston with his wife and their two children.
