Bruce Wasserstein

Infobox Person
name = Bruce Wasserstein

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birth_date = birth date and age|1947|12|25
birth_place = Brooklyn, New York
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nationality = flag|United States
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alma_mater = University of Michigan
Harvard Business School
Harvard Law School
employer = Lazard LLC
occupation = Investment banker
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salary =
networth = around 2 billion USD
religion = Jewish
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Bruce Wasserstein (born December 25, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) [ [http://www.worldwhoswho.com/views/entry.html?id=was-0215 WASSERSTEIN, Bruce] International Who's Who. accessed September 3, 2006.] is an American investment banker and businessman. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and is currently the Chairman and CEO of Lazard LLC. [ [http://lazard.com/AboutLazard/Firm_Mgmt.aspx Lazard Ltd ] ]

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Morris Wasserstein, a wealthy textile executive, and his wife, Lola Schleifer, Wasserstein is one of five children. He has two late sisters: pioneering businesswoman Sandra Meyer and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein, whose daughter he is now raising. His maternal grandfather was Simon Schleifer, a prominent Polish Jewish playwright who moved to Paterson, New Jersey and became a Hebrew school principal.

Wasserstein has helped broker more than a thousand transactions worth $250 billion since the 1980s. Starting his career as a Cravath, Swaine & Moore attorney, he later rose to co-head of First Boston Corp.'s dominant merger and acquisition practice.

He eventually formed investment bank boutique Wasserstein Perella & Co., which he sold in 2000, at the top of the 1990s bull market, to Germany's Dresdner Bank for about $1.4 billion in stock. [ [http://money.cnn.com/2000/09/18/deals/dresdner_wasserstein/index.htm Dresdner buys Wasserstein in $1.4 billion deal - Sep. 18, 2000 ] ] He left the unit Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (formed by merging Dresdner's UK unit Kleinwort Benson with Wasserstein Perella) to take the job at Lazard Frères.

In 2005, Wasserstein completed the initial public offering of Lazard after getting into a corporate fight with Chairman Michel David-Weill who said that he regretted having ever hired Wasserstein.

Bruce Wasserstein controls Wasserstein & Co., a private equity firm with investments in a number of industries, particularly media. In 2004 he added New York Magazine to his growing media empire. In July 2007, he sold American Lawyer Media to Incisive Media for about $630 million in cash.

After making a $25 million donation [ [http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/coming-to-harvard-law-school-wasserstein-hall/ Coming to Harvard Law School: Wasserstein Hall - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds - DealBook - New York Times ] ] to Harvard Law School, the large academic wing of the school's new Northwest Corner complex will be named Wasserstein Hall, in his honor.

As of February 2008, Wasserstein's net worth was estimated to be around 2 billion dollars.cite journal |last=Greenfeld |first=Karl Taro |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2008 |month= |title=Is Bruce Wasserstein Finally Right? |journal=Condé Nast Portfolio |volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url=http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2008/01/14/Bruce-Wasserstein-Profile |accessdate= |quote= ]

Books

*cite book | author=Wasserstein, Bruce | title=Big Deal: Mergers and Acquisitions in the Digital Age | publisher=Warner Books | location=New York | year=1998 | isbn=0446522686
*cite book | author=Wasserstein, Bruce | title=Big Deal: The Battle for the Control of America's Leading Corporations | publisher=Warner Books | location=New York | year=1988 | isbn=0446675210
*cite book | author=Wasserstein, Bruce | title=Corporate Finance Law: A Guide for the Executive | publisher=McGraw-Hill | location=New York | year=1978 | isbn=0070684235
*cite book | last=Wasserstein | first=Bruce | coauthors=Mark J. Green | title=With Justice for Some: An Indictment of the Law by Young Advocates | publisher=Beacon Press | location=Boston | year=1970 | isbn=080700541X

References

External links

* [http://www.wasserco.com Wasserstein & Co.] site.
* [http://www.lazard.com/AboutLazard/Firm_Mgmt.aspx Bruce Wasserstein Profile at Lazard Ltd] site.
* [http://www.lazard.com/Newsroom/Lazard's%20Michel%20David-Weill,%20Bruce%20Wasserstein,%20issue%20joint%20statement.html Lazard's Michel David-Weill, Bruce Wasserstein, issue joint statement ] site.