Jeffery "Jeff" W. Yabuki is an American businessman and the current Chairman of Motive Partners. He previously served as the CEO of Fiserv, a Fortune 500 Company, from 2005-2020 and the Executive Vice President and COO of H&R Block. In 2019, Yabuki was named among the top 30 most innovative leaders in America by Forbes.
Early life and education
Yabuki was born in the greater Los Angeles, California area as the eldest child of parents who faced significant adversity being American immigrants. His father George is a first-generation Japanese American who was placed in an internment camp for two and half years during World War II. Yabuki attended California State University, Los Angeles.
Career
Early career
Yabuki began his career working in public accounting and as a CPA. He spent twelve years working for American Express, where he held a progression of leadership roles and eventually became President and CEO of American Express Tax and Business Services.
Yabuki joined H&R Block in 1999 as President of H&R Block International, where he led tax service operations and the development of financial strategies in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. In 2002, Yabuki became H&R Block’s Executive Vice President and COO, a position he held until 2005.
Fiserv
In 2005, Yabuki joined Fiserv, a global leader in financial services and payment technologies, where he served as CEO, a member of the Board of Directors and as Chairman beginning in 2019. Fiserv achieved substantial financial and business success under Yabuki’s leadership from 2005-2020, nearly tripling in revenue and delivering a shareholder return of 969%. During this time, Fiserv outperformed the S&P 500 Index and saw double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth every year. The company also saw increased associate engagement in the top quartile of all large employers and was routinely named a Fortune World’s Most Admired Company, including nine of the last ten years of his tenure.
Yabuki led Fiserv’s business model and brand transformation from a traditional holding company to an integrated operating company as the organization became the leading global provider of fintech and payment software through the combination of internal investments and strategic acquisitions.
First Data Acquisition
In 2019, Yabuki led the acquisition of First Data in a nearly $40 billion deal, including $22 billion in stock and the assumption of $17 billion in debt. At the time, First Data was also a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest payment processor. The acquisition made Fiserv the largest merchant service platform in the world. The deal also generated significant cost synergies, initially projected at $900 million annually and soon raised to at least $1.2 billion, and was described as a masterclass in mergers & acquisitions by acclaimed portfolio manager David R. Giroux in his book Capital Allocation: Principles, Strategies, and Processes for Creating Long-Term Shareholder Value:When the deal closed Fiserv became a $15 billion a year company with close to 50,000 employees.
Fiserv Forum
In 2018, Yabuki helped lead a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association on a 25-year naming rights agreement for Fiserv Forum, their newly built sports complex. Yabuki participated in the official ribbon-cutting for Fiserv Forum in August 2018 with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Bucks Owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens, Bucks President Peter Feigin, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, and Bucks players and legends including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Khris Middleton, Marques Johnson, Michael Redd, and Steve Novak.
Fiserv Succession
Yabuki retired from Fiserv in 2020, consistent with his belief that organizations benefit from new leadership and fresh perspective. He was succeeded as CEO by Frank Bisignano and as Chairman by Denis J. O’Leary.
Motive Partners
In September 2021, Yabuki became Chairman at Motive Partners, a private equity firm founded by Rob Heyvaert focused on control-oriented growth and buyout investments in software and information services companies that serve the fintech industry.
Board Member
Yabuki is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Nasdaq and the Royal Bank of Canada, and serves as Chairman of Sportradar. In 2021, he was elected as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum, and, in 2023, he joined the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2023, Yabuki was also appointed to the Board of Directors for Project Healthy Minds, a mental health tech non-profit.