Prerequisites: Students must have taken Analytical Methods, Introduction to Finance Concepts, or a similar introduction to basic present value calculations at HLS or elsewhere.

Exam Type: In Class

This course’s immodest ambition is to equip you with powerful analytical tools to understand your clients, the law, and the world. “Corporate” describes most of the applications in the course, but the concepts are much more general. They include (1) replicating cash flows and the law of one price; (2) diversification and market efficiency; (3) capital structure; (4) options and auction. Learning these concepts is hard but rewarding.

The course is roughly divided into four modules of three weeks each covering concepts (1)-(4) mentioned above. The bulk of the course is hands-on financial exercises, small and big; the only lectures will be pre-recorded videos you can watch at home. There will be few legal materials, and only as illustrations of financial concepts. As compared to a typical business school course, this course will put more emphasis on concepts and less on details of project valuation. We will not waste time with practice acronyms and jargon, which are very easy to learn on the job.

Students must be willing to use and engage with middle-school math.