Christopher J. Williams came to finance by way of architecture. He studied at Howard University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture, and later completed an MBA at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. He began his Wall Street career at Lehman Brothers in 1984, where over his tenure he took on senior management responsibilities in debt capital markets, derivatives and fixed income trading.
At Jefferies, he formed a derivatives division that later became The Williams Capital Group, which he co-founded in 1994. Black Enterprise describes him as one of the Black investment bankers who emerged during that period, and its account emphasizes the firm's focus on corporate debt and equity financing and its alliance with Jefferies. The firm's creation involved colleagues and institutional partners alongside Williams's leadership.
The firm participated in financing for major companies, including a co-manager role in a Disney bond offering in 1998 and underwriting work involving other corporate clients. A co-manager participates within a larger underwriting group rather than carrying a transaction alone.
In 2019, Williams Capital combined with Siebert Cisneros Shank to form Siebert Williams Shank, and Williams became chairman. His current professional biography also identifies him as chief executive of the firm's asset-management business and a principal of the general partner of the Clear Vision Impact Fund.
His governance record is broad. He serves on the boards of Ameriprise Financial, The Clorox Company and Union Pacific Corporation, and is a director of privately held Cox Enterprises. Clorox identifies him as a director beginning in 2015 and records the November 2019 start of his SWS chairmanship; its biography distinguishes that current appointment from his earlier service at Walmart. He has also served on the board of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and chaired the Board of Advisors of Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.
In 2021, Howard University announced a $100,000 gift from the Siebert Williams Shank Foundation to its business school. Howard credited Williams, a Howard alumnus, and fellow alumnus Gary Hall with helping inspire the partnership. The gift supported the school's strategic plan, including education and technology priorities.
