Our Founder
Summary
Headquartered in beautiful downtown Tampa, Florida, Stapleton Advisors was founded in 2020 by Mike Stapleton, AIF®. The firm builds on Mike's extensive financial industry expertise.
Background
Mike has built a trusted reputation by working with firms like Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Blackstone, and Edward Jones. As founder of IPO Catalyst in Austin, he guided tech and fintech startups through IPOs and M&A, aligning boards and executives with key stakeholders. After the company’s successful sale, he transitioned into wealth advisory, leveraging securities licensing and broad industry expertise to support business owners and executives through pivotal decisions.
Experience
Mike has been the lead broker in over 100 M&A transactions and has helped raise billions of dollars. Mike brings a wealth of expertise across the investment banking landscape. His extensive experience spans IPOs, DPOs, capital raising, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, trading systems, options, annuities, broker/dealer supervision and compliance, retail investment advising, employee retirement systems, business valuations, board recruiting, and real estate.
Education
Mike earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Legal Studies from Purdue University, graduating summa cum laude in the top 1% of his class. He has amassed thousands of hours of financial, securities, and investment advisory training, both for securities licensing and through ongoing continuing education. Additionally, he previously held a Texas real estate license, completing over 1,000 hours of specialized training and is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) with Broadridge (Fi360).