Gregory Pessin

About Gregory Pessin

More than 20-year career advising on some of the most complex and consequential financing transactions in North America and throughout the world — representing borrowers across hundreds of billions of dollars in M&A financings, leveraged buyouts, bridge financings, and capital markets transactions for companies including Broadcom, Salesforce, AbbVie, Nasdaq, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.Leader of one of the preeminent acquisition finance practices in the country, working at the intersection of law, finance, and corporate strategy on transactions that define markets and reshape industries. Built team from the ground up, developing talent, and establishing a practice recognized globally for the quality, sophistication and volume of its work.Recognized by MergerLinks as the top financing lawyer in North America, by as a Market Leader, and by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers and Leading Lawyers in America.

Experience

1. Partner

   Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

   Sep 2005 — Present · New York, NY, US

   Leader of the firm’s acquisition finance practice, advising borrowers on some of the largest and most complex financing transactions in North America and throughout the world. Expertise spans M&A financings, leveraged buyouts, bridge facilities, and investment grade and high yield capital markets transactions across a wide range of industries.Representative clients have included Broadcom, Salesforce, AbbVie, Cigna, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Nasdaq, CVS Health, and XPO, among many others. In 2025 alone, advised on transactions totaling over $194 billion.Beyond acquisition finance, regularly represents parties in high-stakes conflicts and disputes involving debt and financing issues — matters where deep knowledge of credit documentation, market practice, and deal structure is decisive. Also advises investors in, and purchasers and sellers of, distressed entities, and has represented clients across the full spectrum of restructuring and bankruptcy-related situations, including §363 sales, pre-negotiated reorganizations, and contested bankruptcies involving complex secured debt.Representative off-the-run matters include advising on financing-related elements of Twitter’s successful effort to hold Elon Musk to his $44 billion acquisition commitment — a matter that required navigating the intersection of M&A, financing, contract law, and high-stakes litigation in real time — and providing expert advice on the central issue in an arbitration relating to a multi-billion dollar failed cross-border acquisition in Brazil.Built Wachtell Lipton’s financing practice from the ground up, and has been repeatedly recognized as the top financing lawyer in North America by MergerLinks, a Market Leader by and one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers and Leading Lawyers in America by Lawdragon.

Education

• University of Chicago Law School

  Doctor of Law (J.D.)

  2002 — 2005

• Duke University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Public Policy Studies

  1997 — 2001