J. Cole Richards

University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business

“A collaborative leader with instinctual curiosity for new experiences and appreciation for the road less traveled.”

Hometown: Memphis, TN

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a double-digit handicap, but I’ve hit a hole in one in golf.

Undergraduate School and Major: The University of Alabama; Finance with specialization in International Business

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC): Vice President – Private Equity Fund Finance Originations

What makes Austin such a great place to earn an MBA? Austin sits at the intersection of innovation, finance, energy, and technology. Austin has a unique sense of maintaining the local “weird” small-town feel, while adopting modernization and serving as an ex-pat community of sorts, bringing about a small-town feel with big city opportunities.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Texas McCombs’ MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I viewed business school as an opportunity to explore a diverse range of opportunities through a leading educational curriculum. For me, hand-selecting 10+ electives across Finance, Accounting, Management, and Business & Society provided a platform for choreographing a bespoke academic experience I was looking for.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Texas McCombs? I’m most excited about the Hildebrand Scholarship Program, which emphasizes leadership development through speaker series, alumni engagement, and specialized career coaching. As an inaugural Hildebrand Scholar, I see it as a unique opportunity to deepen my personal and professional growth while connecting my prior finance experience to McCombs’ collaborative community and future career goals.

When you think of the University of Texas, what word comes to mind? Why? When I think of the University of Texas, the word legacy comes to mind. UT has built a legacy of leadership, innovation, and impact that extends far beyond the Forty Acres. Generations of Longhorns have shaped industries, challenged conventions, and elevated their communities — and that enduring influence is what inspired me to join McCombs. It’s a legacy I hope to learn from and contribute to through my own personal and professional endeavors.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: This is a hard question to answer, as I think my career thus-far has been filled with a multitude of experiences that have helped shape the leader I am today. If I had to pick one, I’d highlight the charity event I co-hosted in December 2024 as the Treasurer of the Junior Board of United Way of NYC and SMBC’s Structured Debt Philanthropy Chair. Here, I raised over $10,000 for the United Way, and donated 225+ toys to children across the NYC school-system with the collaboration of 75+ SMBC and United Way team members.

Looking ahead two years, what would make your MBA experience at McCombs successful? Two years from now, I’ll consider my McCombs experience a success if I’ve grown into a more thoughtful, well-rounded leader — someone who combines empathy with authenticity and impact. I hope to build lifelong relationships with classmates, contribute meaningfully to programs like Texas McCombs Investment Advisors and Hildebrand Scholars, and bridge my background in structured debt with my long-term goals in investment management and entrepreneurship.

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