Australia’s most powerful dealmakers in 2026
by Sarah Thompson, , Kanika Sood · Australian Financial ReviewSarah Thompson, , Kanika Sood and , Angira Bharadwaj
Sep 21, 2026 – 5.00am
That giant gurgling sound you can hear is artificial intelligence sucking capital markets dry. It’s the gold rush of the 21st century, and how to best play the AI ecosystem is front-of-mind for capital markets’ biggest brains. The old trope of private equity picking off promising investment bankers is dead. Now, it’s the neocloud and AI infrastructure plays that are consuming all the talent.
But this brave new world is evolving fast, and no one can claim to own the space. Over the past 12 months, it is still the teams running traditional infrastructure and infrastructure-adjacent deals who are keeping the lights on at bulge-bracket firms. They are led by RBC Capital Markets’ Antony Steinberg, Macquarie Capital’s Tom Butcher, UBS’ Chris Nicholson and Bank of America’s Sam Watson.
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Sarah ThompsonStreet Talk editorSarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com
Kanika SoodCo-editor, Street TalkKanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au
Angira BharadwajCo-editor, Street TalkAngira Bharadwaj is a co-editor of Street Talk. She covers IPOs, capital raises, mergers and acquisitions and other breaking news in Australia’s capital markets. Previously, she covered financial services, state, and federal politics. Send tips to @angirab.60 on encrypted messaging platform Signal. Email Angira at angira.bharadwaj@nine.com.au
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