Bruce Wasserstein

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Bruce Wasserstein
First Boston Corp.; Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Spouses
Laura Lynelle Killin
​
​
(m. 1968; div. 1974)​
Christine Parrott
​
(div. 1992)​
Claude Wasserstein née Becker
​
​
(m. 1996; div. 2008)​
​
(m. 2009)​
Children7
RelativesWendy Wasserstein (sister)

Bruce Jay Wasserstein (December 25, 1947 – October 14, 2009)[1] was an American investment banker, businessman, and writer. He was a graduate of the McBurney School,[2] University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and spent a year at the University of Cambridge. He was prominent in the mergers and acquisitions industry, credited with working on 1,000 transactions with a total value of approximately $250 billion.[3]

Early life

Wasserstein was born and raised in

Wloclawek, Poland who later emigrated to Paterson, New Jersey and became a Hebrew school principal.[6]

Wasserstein had four siblings: businesswoman Sandra Wasserstein Meyer; Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein (whose daughter, Lucy Jane, he was raising at the time of his death); Abner Wasserstein (died 2011); and Georgette Levis (died 2014), who was married to psychiatrist Albert J. Levis.[7][8][9]

Wasserstein attended the

Yeshiva of Flatbush for high school.[10]

Career

Starting his career as an attorney at

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (formed by merging Dresdner's United Kingdom unit Kleinwort Benson with Wasserstein Perella) to become head of the financial services firm Lazard.[14] In 2005, he led the initial public offering of Lazard and became the public firm's first chairman and CEO.[15]

Wasserstein controlled Wasserstein & Co., a

hostile takeover
attempt.

Philanthropy

In 2007, Wasserstein made a $25 million donation[17] to Harvard Law School, for the creation of a large academic wing of the school's Northwest Corner complex, which was named Wasserstein Hall.

Net worth

According to Forbes, as of September 17, 2008, Wasserstein's net worth was estimated to be $2.3 billion.[18]

As of 2008, he owned an apartment at

East Hampton (Long Island), a house at 38 Belgrave Square in London, and another apartment in Paris.[19]

Personal life

Wasserstein was married four times and has seven biological children:[7]

Wasserstein's political position was liberal. He was involved with media since high school and college, when he was an editor on his high school newspaper, The McBurneian Bruce Wasserstein’s Westport Connection - WestportNow.com - Westport, Connecticut, (McBurney School, New York), and later at the

Michigan Daily, then served an internship at Forbes magazine. Inspired by Ralph Nader, he was one of "Nader's Raiders" for a brief length of time. Rahm Emanuel and Vernon Jordan were employed by Wasserstein for a few years.[22]
Wasserstein also served as trustee for the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism from 2001 until his death.

Death

On October 11, 2009, Wasserstein was admitted to a hospital with an irregular heartbeat. It was originally reported that his condition was serious, but that he was stable and recovering.[23] However, Wasserstein died in Manhattan three days later, on October 14, at the age of 61.[24]

Books

  • Wasserstein, Bruce (2001). Big Deal: Mergers and Acquisitions in the Digital Age. New York:
    ISBN 0-446-52268-6
    .
  • Wasserstein, Bruce (1998). Big Deal: The Battle for the Control of America's Leading Corporations. New York:
    ISBN 0-446-67521-0
    .
  • Wasserstein, Bruce (1978). Corporate Finance Law: A Guide for the Executive. New York:
    ISBN 0-07-068423-5
    .
  • Wasserstein, Bruce; Mark J. Green (1970). With Justice for Some: An Indictment of the Law by Young Advocates. Boston:
    ISBN 0-8070-0541-X
    .

References

  1. ^ Bio at International Who's Who. Accessed September 3, 2006.
  2. ^ "Bruce Wasserstein's Westport Connection - WestportNow.com - Westport, Connecticut". westportnow.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  3. ^ David Brewerton (October 22, 2009). "Bruce Wasserstein obituary". The Guardian.
  4. ISBN 9780470126899
    .
  5. ^ Business Week bio of Bruce Wasserstein Archived October 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ISBN 978-1-59420-298-8
  7. ^ a b c d e f g New York Daily News: "Bruce Wasserstein, Lazard CEO and New York owner, dies at 61" By Helen Kennedy October 14, 2009
  8. ^ "Georgette Levis Obituary". Legacy.com. February 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "Dr. Albert Levis to Wed Georgette Wasserstein". The New York Times. November 6, 1966.
  10. ^ Cohan, William D. (March 29, 2010). "Bruce Wasserstein's Last Surprise". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  11. ^ Arenson, Karen W. (April 21, 1981). "First Boston's Merger Makers". New York Times.
  12. ^ "7 to Leave First Boston To Form Firm". New York Times. April 16, 1988.
  13. ^ "Dresdner buys Wasserstein in $1.4 billion deal - Sep. 18, 2000". money.cnn.com. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Andrew Ross Sorkin and Suzanne Kapner (November 16, 2001). "A High-Powered Deal Maker Is Named to Lead Lazard". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Moyer, Liz: [1] Forbes, May 5, 2005, "Lazard's Broken"
  16. ^ Haycock, Gavin: [2] Reuters, July 5, 2007, "Incisive Media to buy Wasserstein's ALM for $630 million"
  17. ^ "DealBook". The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  18. ^ "The 400 Richest Americans: #190 Bruce Wasserstein - Forbes.com". www.forbes.com. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  19. ISBN 9780141916835
    .
  20. ^ New York Times: "Christine Wasserstein and Daniel Rattiner August 3, 2008
  21. ^ "Vogue: "Claude Wasserstein's Rooftop Playhouse" by Plum Sykes". Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  22. ^ Teitelman, Robert: [3] Time magazine, November 2, 2009, "Bruce Wasserstein"
  23. ^ Berman, Jeffrey McCracken and Dennis K. (October 13, 2009). "Lazard's Wasserstein Hospitalized". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2020 – via www.wsj.com.
  24. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; de la Merced, Michael J. (October 14, 2009). "Bruce Wasserstein, Lazard Banker, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2020.

External links

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