Dennis Kelleher

Mr. Kelleher is Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets. Mr. Kelleher co-founded Better Markets, along with Chair Mike Masters, after many years of experience in the public, private, political, charitable, and non-profit sectors.

At Better Markets, Mr. Kelleher’s leadership requires operating in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches simultaneously while developing and driving communications strategies to support those policy efforts. He has been quoted more than 3,000 times, done more than 140 live TV appearances, participated in more than 225 rulemakings and 25 legal cases, and testified more than 10 times.

Mr. Kelleher served as a member of the Biden-Harris Transition team and, from September 2020 through January 2021, was on the Federal Reserve, Banking and Securities Agency Review Team and worked with the Treasury Department and Department of Justice teams.

In March 2021, Washingtonian Magazine named him as one of "Washington's most influential people" in banking and finance, saying he was one of the “experts and advocates outside of government who’ll be shaping the policy debates for years to come.”

Less than two years after Better Markets was founded, the New York Times profiled Mr. Kelleher in “Facing Down the Bankers," referring to him as “one of the most powerful lobbyists on financial reform.” He has also been featured in the award-winning Frontline documentary “Money, Power and Wall Street,” on PBS's “Braking the Banks,” and in Steven Brill's best-selling book "Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America's Fifty-Year Fall—and Those Fighting to Reverse It."

Mr. Kelleher is an internationally sought expert on financial reform, financial markets, economics, regulation, legal issues, and their intersection with political matters. In addition to testifying in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, he speaks frequently in the U.S. and Europe on these matters at conferences, seminars, and symposiums as well as on all media platforms.

From 20-second soundbites to hour-long discussions, he appears on the network news shows and is a regular guest on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, NPR, MSNBC, PBS, BBC, C-SPAN, and Fox Business News. In addition, he is often quoted in the New York Times, The Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, Die Zeit, Le Monde, The Guardian, and many other domestic and international print and online publications.

Prior to Better Markets, Mr. Kelleher worked for almost eight years in senior staff positions in the United States Senate, including as General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director on the Labor and Human Resources Committee (now known as the HELP Committee) and as Legislative Director and Leadership Advisor to a senior Senator who was also Secretary to the Democratic Caucus. He concluded his service in the Senate as Chief Counsel and Senior Leadership Advisor to the Chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, a member of Senate leadership. 

Earlier in his career, Mr. Kelleher was a partner with the international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where he had an extensive and broad-ranging U.S. and European practice specializing in crisis management and complex corporate matters that focused on governance, securities, and financial markets. 

Mr. Kelleher served four years of active duty enlisted service in the Air Force as a crash/rescue firefighter/medic, which preceded his graduation with the highest honors from Brandeis University and with honors from Harvard Law School.

Professional affiliations

Better Markets