Christopher Voss is the author of the national best-seller "Never Split The Difference - Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It" and the CEO of The Black Swan Group.

The Black Swan Group is a business negotiation coaching/advisory firm that teaches individuals and businesses how to gain competitive advantages in business negotiations using hostage negotiation strategies. Chris was the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. He retired from the FBI in 2007 after a 24-year career.

Chris also teaches in the M.B.A. programs at The University of Southern California and Georgetown University. Chris is the 2014 recipient of the McDonough School of Business’ Peter J. Gonzalez Jr. Award of Excellence in Adjunct Faculty Teaching.

His students and clients have used these techniques successfully in everything from a negotiation between a husband and a wife over a Christmas tree, to a billion-dollar Wall Street transaction.

At both the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business (MSB), Chris’s class is one of the most sought after (and interesting) courses. Prior to teaching at the USC and MSB, Chris taught International Business Negotiation at Harvard University and was on the teaching staff at Harvard Law School.

“Never Split The Difference” has been listed by Inc.com as one of “The 7 Best How-to Negotiate Books of All Time”.