Ronald C. Chen is a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in the Corporate Department, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, takeover defense, shareholder activism, corporate governance and securities law matters. Chen has represented numerous public and private entities in a variety of industries, jurisdictions and transactions, including domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, private equity transactions, joint ventures, divestitures and spin-offs.
Chen received his A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard University, where he received the John Williams Prize as the top graduate in economics. Following graduation from Harvard, Chen served as a staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and was the recipient of a Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, where he received an M.Sc. in Economic and Social History and an M.B.A. While at Oxford, Chen was also a lecturer in economics at Keble College, Oxford. After completing his M.B.A., Chen was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America | 2026 | M&A, Takeover Defense |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2026 | M&A, Corporate Governance |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2025 | M&A, Corporate Governance |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2024 | M&A, Corporate Governance |
Chen received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School where he was the recipient of a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. After law school, he was a Charles Hamilton Houston Fellow at Harvard Law School and a law clerk to the Honorable Robert D. Sack of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Chen has been recognized as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America by Lawdragon.
Chen teaches a course on Tech Mergers & Acquisitions at Stanford Law School, and has previously taught courses on Mergers & Acquisitions and Other Complex Transactions at Stanford Law School, and Mergers & Acquisitions in the Technology Sector at Harvard Law School. He has also been a Visiting Attorney at Hengeler Mueller in Frankfurt, Germany, and on the M&A Legal Team of Google. Chen also serves on the Corporate and M&A Law Committee of the International Bar Association, and as Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s annual conference on Mergers & Acquisitions in the Technology Sector.