Chris Voss
Chris Voss is the author of Never Split the Difference and a former FBI kidnapping negotiator who teaches listening, tactical empathy and negotiation through books, interviews and online classes.
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Chris’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
BookOverview
- Known for
- Never Split the Difference and tactical empathy
- Work
- Author, negotiation instructor and speaker
- Company
- Founder and CEO, The Black Swan Group
- Before the books
- 24 years with the FBI
- Publishing breakthrough
- Never Split the Difference, co-written with Tahl Raz, published in 2016
Mini bio
How it started.
In a PathWise interview, Chris traced his interest in police work to seeing The Super Cops as a teenager. His first FBI posting was in Pittsburgh, where he worked in counterintelligence and surveillance before transferring to New York.
Learning to listen.
Chris became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. In 2008, he founded The Black Swan Group to bring lessons from hostage negotiations into business conversations.
From cases to books.
Never Split the Difference, written with journalist Tahl Raz, brought those ideas to a wider readership in 2016. Chris later co-wrote The Full Fee Agent with Steve Shull and taught The Art of Negotiation on MasterClass, covering skills such as tactical empathy and delivery.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2022The Full Fee AgentCo-author with Steve Shull
- 2016Never Split the DifferenceCo-author with Tahl Raz
Online teaching
- 2019The Art of NegotiationMasterClass instructor
Awards
Quotes
Why would you ever pick us?Chris Voss, Why Would You Ever Pick Us? newsletter, July 3, 2025
A question Chris recommends asking early in a business negotiation, with genuine curiosity. Source: https://www.blackswanltd.com/newsletter/why-would-you-ever-pick-us
Trivia
- The film The Super Cops helped spark his interest in law enforcement as a teenager.
- He has taught business negotiation in MBA programs at USC and Georgetown.
- His negotiation training included the FBI, Scotland Yard and Harvard Law School.
Find Chris
Follow Chris for negotiation lessons and conversations about listening.
Are you Chris Voss?
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