About Michael Wayne

Michael spent twenty-five years as a clandestine intelligence officer contracting for CIA and SIS (MI6) across all seven continents. His career began in specialized, high-risk paramilitary operations before transitioning into non-official-cover tradecraft work. He is the author of The Chaos Advantage: How CIA Spymasters Embrace Uncertainty to Lead and Succeed.

During his career, Michael created Stormcraft, a leadership doctrine for operating successfully in chaotic environments. It proved effective enough that he was tasked with teaching its principles to intelligence officers and operators preparing for complex field assignments.

While operating under non-official cover, he founded and ran a quantitative hedge fund firm that managed over $100 million and quietly outperformed most of Wall Street for fifteen years. He later expanded into venture capital, advising emerging companies and leadership teams.

In parallel, he founded OASIS, a 501(c)(3) providing humanitarian relief to victims of natural and man-made disasters. He volunteered in Ukraine soon after Russia invaded in 2022, delivering medicine, supplies, and equipment to the front lines, evacuating Ukrainian women and children from the war zone, and training medics and soldiers in battlefield trauma care. He also spearheaded Kids Helping Ukraine (kidshelpingukraine.org), which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Ukrainian war orphans and displaced children.

While in Ukraine, Michael discovered extensive corruption and theft of U.S.-donated supplies. He tried to stop it, and within weeks found himself the target of a federal investigation in the U.S. Intelligence sources soon revealed that the corruption was tied to powerful Americans and that the prosecution was meant to silence him before he could expose the truth. When prosecutors threatened to target his family and fellow volunteers, Wayne ultimately decided to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud to protect them. He served six months in a minimum-security federal prison camp.

Also a Navy veteran, Michael attended the U.S. Naval Academy, a crucible of leadership training. He earned a bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University, a Master of Business Administration from Emory University, and a Master of Studies from the University of Cambridge, where his work focused on behavioral psychology, game theory, and FinTech entrepreneurship. His postgraduate studies include work in quantum physics at the University of Oxford and sustainability at Duke University.

Today, Michael teaches Stormcraft to leaders and organizations navigating uncertainty, disruption, and adversity. The Chaos Advantage brings those same principles to leaders in every field.