Executive Summary
B. Riley Securities has appointed Greg Crooks as Senior Managing Director in its Healthcare and Life Sciences Investment Banking division, effective November 2025, based in New York. He brings over 20 years of experience with 140+ transactions totaling more than $30 billion, spanning biotech and life sciences capital markets and M&A advisory. This hire underscores B. Riley’s strategy to deepen its sector expertise amid regulatory shifts and evolving capital markets dynamics in healthcare.
Analysis
B. Riley Securities is reinforcing its investment banking capabilities in healthcare and life sciences through a strategic senior hire. Greg Crooks joins at a critical time when disruptive innovation, regulatory reform, and shifting capital access are reshaping financing models across biotech, diagnostics, CROs/CDMOs and specialty pharma [1].
Crooks’s track record—140+ deals worth over $30 billion—signals both his transaction credibility and the breadth of his relationships in capital markets dealings like IPOs, ATMs, convertibles, follow-on equity, debt and strategic M&A advisory [1]. His prior positions at BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald, Jefferies and J.P. Morgan suggest experience across both middle-market and institutional banking environments [5].
For B. Riley, this move aligns with a broader talent-acceleration agenda. With Jimmy Baker promoted to CEO starting January 1, 2026 [4], the firm is consolidating leadership in capital markets while enhancing sector specialization. Deepening human capital in life sciences may help BRS capture deal flow emerging from innovations in diagnostics, AI-enabled biology, regulatory reforms (e.g., FDA reform, reimbursement changes), and a potential shift toward more flexible capital solutions in biotech [1].
Strategically, this hire could help BRS compete more aggressively against larger banks and boutique firms that have long dominated life sciences investment banking. Key risks include market volatility in biotech financing, regulatory uncertainties, and ensuring that senior hires translate into measurable deal volume and revenue growth. Important open questions: which sub-sectors BRS will prioritize (e.g. CRO/CDMO vs diagnostics), how it expects competition with bulge bracket and boutique rivals, and how compensation and client incentives will reflect performance in this hiring.
Overall, the appointment of Greg Crooks is a calculated move to strengthen B. Riley’s health care franchise during a period of both opportunity and disruption.
Supporting Evidence
- Greg Crooks joined B. Riley Securities as Senior Managing Director to lead its Healthcare and Life Sciences Investment Banking division, based in New York City [1][5].
- Crooks has over 20 years of experience advising on complex capital markets and strategic M&A transactions, including IPOs, follow-on offerings, at-the-market (ATM), convertibles, and debt [1][5].
- He has executed in excess of 140 transactions totaling more than $30 billion during his career [1][5].
- Prior to B. Riley, Crooks held senior roles at BTIG (up to August 2025), Cantor Fitzgerald, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan [5].
- B. Riley leadership—Jimmy Baker (Co-CEO & Head of Capital Markets) and Joe Nardini (Sr. MD & Head of Investment Banking)—emphasized Crooks’s relationships, experience, and ability to deliver growth and value in reshaping regulatory and capital access environments in health care [1].
- Coincidently, Jimmy Baker will assume the role of sole CEO on January 1, 2026, as part of B. Riley’s leadership transition, aligning senior management changes with talent expansion in key investment banking verticals [4].
Sources
- [1] www.prnewswire.com (PR Newswire) — Nov 10, 2025
- [5] www.brileysecurities.com (B. Riley Securities) — Nov 2025
- [4] www.prnewswire.com (PR Newswire) — Oct 22, 2025