Chris Blake is a senior investment banking advisor with more than 25 years of experience counseling CEOs, boards of directors, shareholders, and financial sponsors on transformational strategic, financial, and capital allocation decisions. Throughout his career, he has advised on complex mergers and acquisitions, capital raising transactions, liability management initiatives, and financial restructurings across a broad range of industries.

At XMS Capital Partners, Chris focuses on advising clients in the digital infrastructure and digital assets ecosystem, providing strategic and financial advice on growth initiatives, M&A, capital formation, and corporate finance matters. He brings extensive experience helping leadership teams navigate critical inflection points, evaluate strategic alternatives, optimize capital structures, and execute transactions that drive long-term shareholder value.

Prior to joining XMS, Chris was a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners, where he built and led the firm’s North American automotive practice. Earlier in his career, he was a Managing Director at Citigroup, where he held a number of senior leadership positions, including Global Head of Automotive. Across these roles, Chris advised many of the world’s leading corporations, private equity firms, boards, and stakeholders on some of the industry’s most significant strategic, financing, and restructuring transactions.

Chris began his professional career as a CPA at Arthur Andersen. He holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and a BBA from the University of Michigan.