Executive Corporate Finance: Free Course

About this course

Managers encounter corporate finance whenever they commit resources, choose funding or decide what to do with cash. This free executive course with Aswath Damodaran connects those choices with the objective of the business. Its extended sessions provide a focused route through the subject for learners who want to understand the financial logic behind management decisions.

Course at a glance

What you’ll learn

• Relate financial decisions to an explicit business objective.
• Explain the role of risk-free rates, risk premiums and betas.
• Connect required returns with the evaluation of investments.
• Review financing and payout choices as parts of one financial policy.

Skills you’ll gain

• Executive financial reasoning
• Investment appraisal
• Capital structure
• Dividend policy

Course Overview

The series begins with the purpose of corporate finance and the end goal of running a business. It then develops risk inputs, betas and the cost of capital before turning to investment returns. The final part considers the financing mix, financing design, dividends and valuation. The executive format keeps the discussion centered on linked business decisions while retaining the quantitative concepts needed to evaluate them.

How the course develops

• Setting the objective: identify the purpose against which a business decision will be evaluated.
• Understanding required returns: follow the progression from risk measurement to the costs of equity, debt and capital.
• Connecting decisions: assess investment returns, financing choices and dividends before bringing them together through valuation.

The classroom retains every entry from the selected source playlist, including introductory or review videos when present. Follow the lesson sequence, or use the lesson search to return to a specific explanation. The source lesson titles are preserved so that you can match your place with the instructor’s materials.

Who is this for?

Managers, entrepreneurs and experienced business learners who need a coherent corporate finance framework for reviewing proposals and discussing decisions with finance teams.

Before you start

Basic accounting knowledge and comfort with financial arithmetic are recommended. Earlier study of time value of money will make the investment sessions easier to follow.

Put the lessons into practice

Prepare a decision memo for a hypothetical expansion project. Separate the operating case from the financing choice, identify the cash flows that matter and state the required return assumption. Finish by explaining how the proposal could affect the company's capacity to distribute cash. Focus on the reasoning before refining the spreadsheet.

This optional activity is provided by WikiFree for independent study. It is not a graded assignment from the instructor. Keep your working notes and separate evidence from assumptions so that you can review your reasoning as you progress.

Certificate / Assessment

The public YouTube videos are free to watch. Viewing them through WikiFree does not include a certificate, academic credit, an NYU degree, instructor feedback or admission to a university program. Separate enrolled or certificate programs can have different requirements and fees.

Mark complete records your study progress; it does not assess your work or award a qualification. Examples and figures belong to the source recordings. Use the lessons to learn the analytical methods and verify current inputs before applying them to a real decision.

Frequently asked questions

Provider: Aswath Damodaran. Videos play from the Aswath Damodaran channel on YouTube.