About Bob Billow, President & Founder

Bob has nearly 50 years of transaction experience through his roles first as a corporate attorney and then as an investment banker. He has participated in hundreds of transactions in a wide variety of industries ranging in size from several million dollars to over one billion dollars.

Bob has been a welcomed lecturer and panel participant before various state and local bar associations and continuing education forums and has presented talks before numerous gatherings of business analysts, lawyers, accountants, and business owners.

Prior to co-founding Billow Butler & Company in 1997, the highly respected and successful predecessor to FPS from which Bob departed in 2023, Bob served for 10 years as a decorated dealmaker at a national middle-market investment bank. During his tenure at that firm he earned its top accolades, including that firm's "Top Gun" award (2 times) and its "Gold Max" and "Crystal Max" awards for his high distinction in deal generation and closings.

For 12 years prior, Bob practiced corporate law at Winston & Strawn, a leading national law firm headquartered in Chicago. Bob specialized in business mergers, acquisitions and sales for major publicly-traded clients, as well as prominent privately held companies. As a partner, he enjoyed responsibility for a significant number of headline transactions. In 1981, Bob became the youngest person elected to the firm's partnership at that time.

In addition to the energies he has devoted to all these professional endeavors, Mr. Billow has been very committed to active leadership in the community and many philanthropic organizations.

A lifelong Chicagoan who has extensively traveled for business around the country and across the world, Bob graduated Highest Distinction with a BA with Honors in Economics from Northwestern University where he was a member of the honorary society of Phi Beta Kappa. He received both his M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from The University of Chicago.