Since graduating from the University of Florida in 1982, Rick Scarola (BSBA ’82) has combined his educational background in business and passion for engineering into a career path in real estate. For 23 years, Covenant Capital Group, which Scarola co-founded
Stories by Allison
Bill and Carol Moss: Personal connections facilitate learning opportunities
When Carol Moss (MBA ’87) first enrolled in the University of Florida’s MBA program, she didn’t quite know what she was getting into. As a nurse taking classes while working full time at Shands Hospital, she realized that there was
Marty Schaffel: First-hand insights from a successful entrepreneur
In the years after he graduated from the University of Florida, Marty Schaffel (BA, BSBA ’76) took on a few different roles in management and sales, but it wasn’t until he started his own company at age 27 that he
Unusual IPO Slump Makes a Rebound Harder to Predict
Prolonged new-listings slowdown doesn’t bode well for recovery in private equity-sponsored IPO exits. “It’s surprising to us that given the big rebound in stock prices, we haven’t seen more IPO activity,” Cordell Eminent Scholar Jay Ritter said. Read more insights
This Is The Ultimate Donald Trump Stock: Is DWAC A Buy After New Hampshire Win?
Digital World Acquisition (DWAC), the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is being used as a vehicle to take the Trump Media & Technology Group public, but is it a buy now? Cordell Eminent Scholar Jay Ritter shares his insights in
Paranoid CEOs hide from government, react strongly to competitors
The higher CEOs score on measures of paranoia, the more likely they are to avoid lobbying government, according to new research of 925 CEOs across 774 firms by Associate Professor Aaron Hill. But hiding doesn’t always work. If sanctioned, or
Elon Musk wants what Mark Zuckerberg has — why shareholders would lose out
Cordell Eminent Scholar Jay Ritter provides his IPO expertise to this story about Elon Musk’s public demand that Tesla’s board give him even greater influence over the company by boosting his stake to 25%. He even floated the idea of

Russian investor made millions off insider trading tied to Trump Media, court docs say
Cordell Eminent Scholar Jay Ritter shares his expertise for this story about a Russian-American businessman based in Miami suspected of making nearly $23 million from alleged insider trading involving former President Donald Trump’s media company, according to federal court records.
Planet Money’s Jess Jiang to discuss how AI is transforming business
Jess Jiang, an Emmy-winning journalist and editor of NPR’s economics podcast Planet Money, will visit the University of Florida campus as the university’s inaugural Business Journalist in Residence Feb. 5-8. Her visit will include a public panel discussion titled, “How
Expert Insight on Mortgage Refinancing
Prida Term Assistant Professor Philip Wang shares his insights for this story on mortgage refinancing, which means replacing your home loan with a new one to get lower rates, reduce monthly payments or secure additional funds. Understanding how it works