Bob Hulett

Robert Lee "Bob" Hulett was born January 26, 1943, in Columbia, Missouri, and grew up attending Hickman High School, where he played football, baseball, and basketball. He served one year in the U.S. Army (trained at Fort Leonard Wood) before earning a BS/BA in Accounting, *cum laude*, from the University of Missouri–Columbia in 1966, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. He later completed an MBA at Lindenwood University.

Hulett began his career as a Certified Public Accountant at Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG), first as an Audit Manager in St. Louis and later, after transferring to the firm's New York City office in 1977, as Director of Training for Private Business. Along the way he acquired and operated Letterhead and Check Corp., a St. Louis printing/packaging company, in the mid-1970s, and served as a chief executive and board member for several middle-market companies. He also taught extensively — as an adjunct professor at New York University, as a tenured faculty member at Lindenwood University, and by running training sessions for middle-market CPA firms for more than a decade.

In 1981 he founded R.L. Hulett & Company, a middle-market investment bank in St. Louis focused on M&A advisory, private capital raising, succession planning, business valuation, and financial due diligence. He led the firm for roughly 40 years and personally negotiated and completed more than 200 (by some counts 275+) transactions. Under his leadership the firm became known as one of the longest-tenured middle-market investment banks in the St. Louis region, built on stated core values of "Integrity, Honesty and Hard Work."

Bob Hulett died peacefully on November 18, 2024, in Webster Groves, Missouri, at age 81. He was survived by four children, nine grandchildren, and his brother. The firm he founded continues to operate under his name.

• Not a check-writing investor. R.L. Hulett is a sell-side/buy-side M&A advisory and private-capital advisory firm — it advises owners on transactions rather than making equity investments from a fund. Any "check size" or "seed round" framing does not apply.
• Clients: Business owners, executives, and private equity firms seeking to sell, recapitalize, or raise growth capital for established companies.
• Company profile: Profitable, mature middle-market businesses — generally in the ~$10M–$250M revenue range.
• Sector emphasis: Industrials and specialty distribution; plastics, packaging & materials converting; food & consumer / private-label co-packing; transportation & logistics (3PL, freight brokerage, warehousing); tech-enabled services (software, SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity, managed IT); and healthcare (behavioral health, ophthalmology, dermatology, long-term care, medical devices).
• Stated philosophy (Hulett's own): He founded the firm "to become the most reputable investment bank in the region," crediting "Integrity, Honesty and Hard Work" as the foundation of its longevity — and personally said he "enjoyed teaching and helping people" throughout his career.