Sullivan & Cromwell Snags Top M&A Spot in Rankings Shakeup

Elon Musk and OpenAI fueled a shakeup in Big Law’s top M&A advisers during the first quarter as deals activity reached a record high and private equity’s biggest players slid.

Wall Street’s Sullivan & Cromwell ($442.5 billion) and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher ($329.9 billion) catapulted to the top of Bloomberg Law’s league tables, thanks largely to a single deal: Musk’s combination of SpaceX and xAI to form a $1.25 trillion entity. The firms jumped perennial leaders—Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis—after landing outside of the top 10 dealmakers last year.

“Everything seems to be firing on all cylinders right ...