Paul S. Atkins is an American businessman who has served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) since April 2025.[1] Atkins also previously served as a commissioner at the SEC from 2002 to 2008.[2] Known for advocating reduced regulatory burdens and promoting financial innovation,Atkins has been a vocal supporter of free-market principles in regulatory policy.[3][4]
Atkins began his career as a lawyer in New York City with Davis Polk & Wardwell, focusing on a wide range of corporate transactions for U.S. and foreign clients, including public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. He worked in the Paris office for two and a half years, and in 1988 was admitted to provide legal advice in France.[6]
Before his appointment as commissioner, Atkins assisted financial services firms in improving their compliance with SEC regulations and worked with law enforcement agencies to investigate and rectify situations where investors had been harmed. Most prominent among these situations was Bennett Funding Group, Inc., a $1 billion leasing company that perpetrated the then-largest "Ponzi" fraud to date in U.S. history. More than 20,000 investors lost much of their investment. Assisting the company's court-appointed bankruptcy trustee, Atkins served as crisis president of Bennett's sole surviving subsidiary, according to his SEC biography. By stabilizing its finances and operations and rebuilding and expanding its business, he improved its share value for the remaining investors by almost 2000%.
From 1990 to 1994, Atkins served on the staff of two former chairmen of the SEC, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt. Under Chairman Breeden, he assisted in efforts to improve regulations regarding corporate governance, enhance shareholder communications, strengthen management accountability through proxy reform, and decrease barriers to entry for small businesses and middle market companies to the capital markets. Under Chairman Levitt, he was responsible for organizing the SEC's individual investor program, including the first investor town hall meetings, and an SEC consumer affairs advisory committee.
In December 2024, Atkins was nominated by President-elect Trump to be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was sworn in on April 21, 2025.[1]
In July 2025, Atkins sold his stake in Patomak Global Partners to an undisclosed buyer for between $25 million and $50 million.[7]
Personal life
Atkins has three sons with his wife Sarah Humphreys Atkins,[5][9] who is a major Republican donor.[10] As of 2025, their combined net worth is estimated to be $327 million.[7]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
