The quintuple Gator graduate

How Hans Tanzler’s (BSAc ’10, MAcc ’10, MBA ’14, JD ’14, LLM ’15) ten-year journey with the University of Florida shaped him into a full-service business advisor.

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”

That quote by Oscar Wilde sits on the desk of Hans Tanzler IV (BSAc ’10, MAcc ’10, MBA ’14, JD ’14, LLM ’15) who holds five degrees from the University of Florida, three of which from the Warrington College of Business.

Tanzler was born in Jacksonville, Florida to a Gator family. Tanzler’s grandparents are alumnus to the University and his father, Hans Tanzler III (BSAc ’73, JD ’77, LLM ’77), is a triple graduate.

It only made sense for him to continue as a fourth generation Hans Tanzler and third generation law Gator grad when it came time to apply for college.

“[The University of Florida] is the preeminent school in the state of Florida and has a fantastic accounting program, law school and LLM program,” Tanzler explained. “It’s a one stop shop.”

In 2010, Tanzler graduated with both his bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from the Warrington College of Business. While attending the Fredric G. Levin College of Law he pursued a combination degree program and earned both his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration at the same time in 2014. He spent another year at the law school and graduated with his Master of Laws in 2015. 

“I never wanted to be in a position where I would step into a conversation with business leaders and not really understand what was being discussed,” said Tanzler.

While pursuing his combination bachelor’s and master’s in accounting, Tanzler served as a tax intern for big four accounting firm KPMG in Washington, D.C.

Steve Rainey (BSAc ’84, MAcc ‘93), who now serves as the Global Chief Operating Officer of Tax and Legal services at KPMG International, recruited Tanzler for that internship at UF. 

“He was working on building out [the DC office] with more Gator grads,” said Tanzler. “That was a great opportunity.”

While pursuing his Juris Doctor and Master of Business, Tanzler held several internships and positions. He was a Law Clerk for the US Court of Appeals in summer 2012, analyst for Gentry Capital in summer 2013, and served as a graduate research assistant from 2014 until he graduated with his Master of Laws in taxation in 2015.

After graduating with his Master of Laws, Tanzler moved to DC to work for big four accounting firm PwC. As a director in their Washington national office, Tanzler worked closely with the Department of Treasury on negotiating tax regulations and shaping tax policy that would help form and contour the laws passed during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations on behalf of clients and the firm.

“I was so prepared for the real world from the University of Florida that the transition from UF to PwC was rather seamless,” said Tanzler.

Tanzler stayed connected to his Gator roots while working for PwC by coming back to campus to recruit for the company, giving guest lectures in courses and hosting dinners for students.

In 2021, he transitioned to Fidelity Information Services, a Fortune 100 FinTech company, back home in Jacksonville where he led a 12-billion-dollar disposition of one of Fidelity’s major business units.

Now, Tanzler is the Head of Global Tax and M&A for a publicly traded AI company on the west coast, Penguin Solutions, where he focuses on strategic planning and transactions; manages the tax department; works with the broader finance department on cash management and foreign currency hedges; works with the legal team on proxy solicitations for public shareholders and corporate governance; and works with financial planning and analysis on developing budgets for the department. He is currently leading a project to re-domesticate Penguin back to the United States from the Cayman Islands, which was recently announced publicly

“You look at all those other facets of business, and you can tie them all together and realize that each field of study, be it law, management, tax accounting, finance, are all cogs that create this wheel that is the business,” said Tanzler. “Having an understanding of each one of those cogs was extremely valuable.”

On top of his strong business, law and accounting background, Tanzler has always been a passionate educator.

While pursuing his combination accounting degree, Tanzler served as an accounting instructor for the UF Athletic Association. He also helped build TutoringZone, which is now known as Study Edge. In spring 2015, Tanzler took on the opportunity to travel to Poland where he served as a visiting professor at the University of Warsaw.

Even with a busy schedule, Tanzler frequently comes back to UF to give guest lectures and career advice to students.

“I love teaching,” he said.

Tanzler’s biggest advice for students is to start accumulating valuable skills early, even if they don’t have set career plans.

After spending nearly ten years at UF building his portfolio, Tanzler said his experience was valuable “and really translated well into the real world.”

“As a freshman, it’s okay to not know what you want to do, but in the meantime, start accumulating skills that are going to allow you to do whatever it is you ultimately end up doing,” Tanzler said. “Forge a path of your own.”