Leo Decker, Business Broker

Leo Decker has spent decades in business as a hands-on entrepreneur. Over that time he has run a number of companies of his own and has also owned and managed a sizable real estate portfolio spanning commercial and residential properties. Today he applies that background to finding and evaluating investment opportunities.

His first venture came right after graduation, when he and his father founded Decker Scrap Metals. The metals recycling company profited from arbitrage in the bulk metals market, and Leo spent a number of years building it into a successful business before selling his shares to take on new challenges.

Recycling had taught him to read market patterns and trends, and he carried that skill into finance as an investment advisor with E.F. Hutton. Janney Montgomery Scott later recruited him. Leo became known for exceptional business development skills and a strong rapport with his clients, and alongside his work at the firm he began brokering businesses as well as investments.

As a broker, whenever a promising deal appeared, he also acquired businesses on his own behalf and for his investment partners. Taking an opportunistic, industry-agnostic approach, he has owned and operated companies in transportation, advertising, travel and restaurants. On the strength of his business development record, an investor of his who had founded a major real estate developer, one whose holdings span both commercial and residential properties, brought Leo in to raise capital; that company has since developed commercial real estate totaling more than 8 million square feet. At Sales Optimizer, LLC, where he was a member, Leo designed and delivered training programs that were sold to third-party companies.

In his community, Leo volunteers with the Knights of Columbus and other Catholic charities, and he takes a very active role in the Help a Diabetic Child Foundation, raising funds for the charity and building awareness of diabetes in children.