Matt Friestedt is a partner in Paul Weiss’s Executive Compensation Group. His practice involves handling all matters involving the compensation of senior executives, including employment, change in control, equity compensation and severance agreements. Friestedt has worked on well over $2 trillion of M&A transactions (including more than 150 deals with values in excess of $1 billion) since 2010 and also regularly advises on governance issues.
Friestedt frequently authors articles on topics relating to executive compensation practices and the Section 280G “golden parachute” tax rules. In 2023, Friestedt co-authored the article, “Usage of Section 280G Gross Ups in Recent M&A Deals,” for The M&A Lawyer. He has also recently co-authored the article “Rise of Merger of Equal Deals” and “Prevalence of Section 280G Gross Ups in Recent M&A Deals” for The M&A Lawyer and “CEO Mega Grant Practices” and “Section 208G: The Law and Lore of the Golden Parachute Excise Tax (Parts I and II)” in Journal of Compensation and Benefits.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2026 | Executive Compensation & Benefits |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2025 | Executive Compensation & Benefits |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2024 | Executive Compensation & Benefits |
| Lawdragon Releases Latest Guide to the Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers in America | 2022 | Executive Compensation & Benefits |
| Lawdragon's Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers of America | 2021 | Executive Compensation & Benefits |
| Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers | 2020 | Executive Compensation & Benefits |
Friestedt’s recent M&A experience includes:
- AbbVie in its withdrawn $55 billion acquisition of Shire
- AIG in the $15 billion sale of Alico to MetLife
- Amazon in its $14 billion acquisition of Whole Foods
- Amgen in its $10 billion acquisition of Onyx
- AT&T in its, $67 billion acquisition of DirecTV, $109 billion acquisition of Time Warner and $39 billion blocked acquisition of T-Mobile
- Bayer in its $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto
- Biohaven in its $12 billion sale to Pfizer
- Cablevision in its $18 billion sale to Altice
- Columbia Pipeline in its $13 billion sale to TransCanada
- Concho in its $13 billion sale to ConocoPhilips and $10 billion acquisition RSP Permian
- Credit Suisse in its $3 billion sale to UBS
- CVS in its $13 billion acquisition of Omnicare
- Dyax in its $6 billion sale to Shire
- Enbridge in its $43 billion acquisition of Spectra
- Fiat in its acquisition of Chrysler, in connection with its chapter 11 case
- Fiserv in its $22 billion acquisition of First Data
- Genomic Health in its $3 billion sale to Exact Sciences
- GGP in its $28 billion sale to Brookfield
- Goldman Sachs in its $6 billion acquisition of SLK
- Great-West Lifeco in its $2 billion sale of Putnam to Franklin Resources
- Harris in its $35 billion merger of equals with L3
- Management team of HCA in its $33 billion LBO by KKR and Bain
- Hilton Hotels in its $26 billion sale to Blackstone
- Idenix in its $4 billion sale to Merck
- ICE in its $8 billion acquisition of the NYSE
- Kite Pharma in its $12 billion sale to Gilead Sciences
- Kraft in its $55 billion merger with Heinz
- Medco in its $29 billion sale to Express Scripts
- Perrigo in its $9 billion acquisition of Elan
- Pharmasset in its $11 billion sale to Gilead Sciences
- PRA Health Sciences in its approximately $12 billion sale to ICON
- Priceline in its acquisitions of Kayak and OpenTable
- Qualcomm in its pending $2 billion acquisition of Alphawave Semi
- SBC in its $22 billion acquisition of AT&T
- Seagen in its $43 billion sale to Pfizer
- Silver Lake in its $9 billion sale of Skype to Microsoft
- Stemcentrx in its $10 billion sale to AbbVie
- Synageva in its $8 billion sale to Alexion
- Triton in its $13 billion sale to Brookfield Infrastructure
- TXU in its $45 billion sale to KKR and TPG
- UnitedHealth in its $13 billion acquisition of Catamaran and $14 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare
- Verve Therapeutics in its pending $1 billion sale to Eli Lilly
- ZF in its $13 billion acquisition of TRW
- Numerous middle market LBOs for Ares, CPPIB, OTPP and Rhone