Kenneth A. Buckfire is the President and co-Founder of Miller Buckfire & Co. (www.millerbuckfire.com) and a Vice-Chairman of Stifel Financial. During his 35 year career in restructuring he has advised clients in a broad range of industries including oil & gas, oilfield services, homebuilding and real estate, merchant power, electric utilities, broadcasting, media, telephone and data services, shipping, governments and government agencies. He co-founded Miller Buckfire in 2002 and Marblegate Asset Management in 2008.
His notable accomplishments include the first prepackaged Chapter 11 ($1 Billion – Edgell Communications, 1990), the largest out of court utility restructuring ($21 Billion – Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, 1998), the first convertible DIP loan (($3.5 Billion – ICO Global Communications, 2000), the first public common stock offering by a bankrupt company ($24 Billion – General Growth Properties, 2010), the first municipal DIP loan ($19 Billion – City of Detroit, 2013), the first successful restructuring and bankruptcy of a US city ($19 Billion – City of Detroit, 2014), and the first out of court restructuring based on a SPAC and PIPE financing ($3 Billion – Faraday Future, 2021). Mr. Buckfire has arranged and negotiated over $75 billion in financings for financially stressed companies.
He has led numerous out-of-court transactions in which new capital was committed to eliminate balance sheet and liquidity stress. These transactions have included Faraday Future, Level(3) Communications, Centennial Communications, Standard Pacific Homes, CenterPoint Energy and CMS Energy. His clients have included the Bank of Greece, National Bank of Ukraine, FDIC, Attica Bank, Faraday Future Holdings, City of Detroit, General Growth Properties, Calpine Corporation, Level(3) Communications, Exide Technologies, Excel Shipping, Molycorp, Sirius Satellite Radio, CMS Energy, CenterPoint Energy, Oncor, Readers Digest, Allegheny International, Foamex, Van Camp Seafood, Walter Industries, Burnham Broadcasting, EUA Power Corporation, Imperial Sugar, and CRIIMI MAE.
Mr. Buckfire’s awards include the 2021 Restructuring Mega Transaction for Faraday Future, 2015 Harvey R. Miller TMA Outstanding Achievement Award, the 2016 Foreign Policy Association Medal for leading the successful restructuring of the City of Detroit, the 2014 Turnaround Atlas Individual Leadership Award, and the 2014 Mega Transaction of the Year Award for the City of Detroit (from the Turnaround Management Association and Turnaround Atlas).
Many of his transactions have been similarly recognized including Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (Energy Transaction of 1998, IDD), Calpine Corporation (Mega Transaction of 2008, TMA), General
Growth Properties (Mega Transaction of 2010, TMA), Horizon Natural Resources (Most Outstanding Transaction of 2005 by TMA), and Molycorp (Most Outstanding Middle Market Restructuring, 2015).
Prior to founding Miller Buckfire in 2002, Mr. Buckfire was a Managing Director of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Co-Head of the financial restructuring group.. Before joining Wasserstein Perella & Co.
(acquired by Dresdner), he was a Senior Vice President at Lehman Brothers Inc. Mr. Buckfire is on the Board of Advisors of the Zell-Lurie Institute at the Ross Business School and the University Musical Society of The University of Michigan. He is on the Board of Advisors of New Mountain Capital. Mr. Buckfire was a trustee of the Philharmonic Society of New York, UJA-Federation of New York, The Paul & Daisy Soros Fund for New Americans, and the Orpheus Orchestra. He is a Director and founding investor of ProClara Biosciences, Inc. and Amyl Therapeutics. Mr. Buckfire is a Director and Chairman of the Audit & Strategic Issues Committees of Purdue Pharma. He has been a director of seven other public and private companies.
Mr. Buckfire is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School where he teaches a graduate course in Corporate and Government Restructuring. He has been a guest lecturer at The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Mr. Buckfire received his MBA from Columbia University in 1987. He received his B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from The University of Michigan in 1980.
