Meet Wayne Zell
Business Exit Planner | Attorney | Tax Expert | CPA | Author | National Speaker
Wayne M. Zell, Esq. is a nationally recognized speaker, award‑winning author, attorney, CPA, and Certified Exit Planner (CExP) who helps entrepreneurs and high‑net‑worth families protect assets, reduce taxes, and plan successful exits. For more than 30 years, he has guided clients through business succession and management succession, multimillion‑dollar business exits, sophisticated asset protection structures, and complex estate planning. Wayne is known for integrating estate planning, business planning, taxation, and business exit strategies into one coordinated blueprint so owners can exit on their terms while preserving and growing family wealth.
In Business Success(ion) Planning matters, Wayne represents the owners of closely held businesses and nonprofits on general business formation and operations, tax and exit planning, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, and other CEO/founder issues. He serves on the boards of several privately held companies, so he can advise clients directly from infancy through to final sale. His passion for exit planning inspired him to write Your Multimillion-Dollar Exit, an easy-to-follow planner designed to help entrepreneurs build a strong foundation for exiting their businesses on their terms. (Amazon Link)
His Amazon best-seller and award-winning book, Your Multimillion-Dollar Exit, contains a unique process to help entrepreneurs successfully architect the best exit from their businesses. The book captured the 2024 PenCraft Book Award and the 2024 American Legacy Book Awards. Entrepreneur Magazine claimed it as one of “4 Books for Entrepreneurs Looking to Break the Mold”. Forbes listed it in “9 Books for Business Owners Planning to Sell” . And IssueWire listed the book in “9 Important Books for Business Owners Who are Seeking to Sell”.
As an asset protection attorney, Wayne regularly advises his clients in structuring and preparing intricate revocable and irrevocable trusts, family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, life insurance vehicles, charitable giving arrangements (including charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts), private foundations, public foundations, grant-making programs, and other estate planning matters.
Wayne hosts the Blueprint for Wealth videocast/podcast series, interviewing entrepreneurs about their secrets to success. He is featured on YouTube, Spotify, and ApplePodcast. His video and podcast guests include entrepreneurs from various industries.
With over 37 years of experience speaking, educating, advocating, writing, and advising clients on Business Success(ion) planning, he has become the architect behind hundreds of multimillion-dollar transactions.
Published Works
The Wayne Zell Law Blog
Academia
Adjunct Professor at George Mason University School of Business (Estate Planning)
“Wayne Zell has helped us navigate complex estate issues with advice, paperwork, and tax services. Dealing with Wayne has been a pleasure; when he promises, he delivers. I highly recommend him for estate, tax planning, business planning, and related services such as accounting/tax prep.”
Jonathan A.
