Nick Leopard is the Founder and CEO of Accordion, a financial consulting firm and private equity’s value creation partner of choice. Rooted in data, technology, and AI, Accordion helps sponsors and their portfolio companies drive value across all stages of the investment lifecycle, from foundational accounting and FP&A enhancement to performance acceleration, transaction support, and turnaround and restructuring.
Since founding the firm in 2009, Nick has grown Accordion to 1,600 people across 11 offices in the US, Europe, Asia, and Canada – built organically and through strategic data, technology, and AI-related acquisitions. Under Nick’s leadership, Accordion has completed two successful private equity-backed transactions and delivered a 4.7x return to its first institutional investor, while maintaining the people-first culture that defines Accordion as “the better way to work in finance.”
A recognized voice on private equity, the Office of the CFO, and AI-enabled finance transformation, Nick is a regular Forbes contributor with a large and engaged readership. His insights have also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, and CNBC.
Before founding Accordion, Nick was on the investment team at BHC Interim Funding and in the FIG Investment Banking group at Bear Stearns. He began his career at CapitalSource Finance and holds a BS in Finance from Saint Joseph’s University.