Mark L Mitchell

Biography

Mark Mitchell is Founding Principal at AQR Arbitrage, LLC, (www.aqr.com) an investment-management firm based in Greenwich, CT, focused on arbitrage strategies. He is also CEO of Grand Teton Group, Inc. (www.grandtetongroup.com), a Jackson, WY-based company that manages a range of businesses and private investments across multiple sectors and asset classes. In 2018, Mitchell returned to academia, rejoining the  faculty at Chicago Booth.

Prior to co-founding AQR Arbitrage (formerly, CNH Partners) in 2001, Mitchell was a finance professor at Booth (1990-1999) and Harvard Business School (1999-2003). Four of his papers received paper-of-the-year awards: Smith-Breeden Prize from Journal of Finance for “Limited Arbitrage in Equity Markets”; Merton Miller Prize from Journal of Business for “Managerial Decisions and Long-Term Stock Price Performance”; Graham and Dodd Scroll from Financial Analysts Journal for “The Value of Corporate Takeovers”; and Roger Murray Prize from Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance for “Do Bad Bidders Become Good Targets?”. He remains active in academic research, witha  focus on finance-related topics.

Mitchell also received five teaching awards at the University of Chicago. He is co-author of the textbook “Mergers, Restructuring and Corporate Governance.” In February 2007, Mitchell served as an emissary of the U.S. State Department to discuss MA with policymakers, business leaders, academics and reporters in Japan.

From 1996 to 2020, Mitchell served on the board of directors at TD-Ameritrade Holding Corporation. Over that period, he chaired four several committees at various times, including the Risk Committee, M&A Committee, Nominating Committee, and Special Committee. He also served on the Audit Committee, HR & Compensation Committee, Outside Independent Directors Committee, and Strategic Development Committee. Mitchell has also served on a handful of private boards and creditor committees.

During 1987-1990, Mitchell worked in the Office of the Chief Economist at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. There, he authored several research papers, contributed to merger regulation efforts, and led initiatives to apply financial economics in insider trading enforcement cases.

Mitchell received his Ph.D. in Applied Economics in 1987 at Clemson University; M.A. in Economics in 1983 at Clemson; B.B.A. in Economics (summa cum laude) in 1982 from the University of Louisiana (Monroe).

Academic Areas

• Finance