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Bruce Wasserstein Is Dead

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Developing story per WSJ. LAZ halted. And yet again, questions for the SEC on companies reporting potentially misleading health information on key individuals.

 

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Wed, 10/14/2009 - 15:58 | 99092 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

WTF is Bruce Wasserstein?

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:03 | 99097 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

Please remove yourself from this website.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:48 | 99282 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

Please remove yourself from your alter.

I simply asked who he is.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:51 | 99286 Missing_Link
Missing_Link's picture

Let me Google that for you.

 

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=bruce+wasserstein

Thu, 10/15/2009 - 10:18 | 99600 Hephasteus
Hephasteus's picture

lol

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:17 | 99356 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

WTF is Bruce Wasserstein?

Technically, you asked WHAT IT is, not who he is.  Not only do you not know finance, but you don't know grammer.

So, please remove your head from your ass.  And while your at it, please remove your community college degree from your wall.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:36 | 99382 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

"not only do you not know finance, but you don't know grammer."

Does he not know grammer or grammar?

Thu, 10/15/2009 - 06:10 | 99529 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

LOLOLOLOLOL

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:17 | 99415 rigger mortice
rigger mortice's picture

errr....grammar shurely?

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:54 | 99445 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Since you asked what a W..ass..erstein is, the official definition is as follows:

A self-absorbed intolerant asshole with no sense of humor and a belief in their own know-it-all superiority over those they consider to be their inferior, which just happens to be practically everyone.

Their physical manifestion is found on websites where they cyber bully anonymously and demand all personally perceived trolls, zombies, or otherwise financial worms to either remove themselves from their prescense or at the very least, ....gasp, .....of all the horrors...., refrain from posting on such a snooty, snobby, way beyond their third grade educational comprenhension financail website.

Welcome to the slag heap nope-1004. Sadly this troll failed to watch Fight Club and see the message it imparted to those willing to percieve.

Thu, 10/15/2009 - 11:42 | 99805 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

You are 100% right!  That was completely inappropriate and totally unnecessary.  I apologize to NOPE-1004, Tyler Durden, and the entire ZERO HEDGE community.

I was a total ass.  I take full ownership of my actions, and I won't hide under a psudo-name OR post anonymously in order to not confront my wrong doing.

I was a dick, and I was wrong.  I am sorry.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:03 | 99100 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

That's Bruce Springstein's name off-stage.

Just kidding. The Boss is immortal.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:25 | 99250 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

WADR, hate to be a heretic, but is there anyone but me that thinks that Bruce Springsteen is firmly in the league of other vastly overrated celebrities/musicians/sportsmen/politicians??

I mean what on earth is immortal about a 60+ year old man, in tight leathers, sticking his package in the face of the TV camera?

If it's me, I'll just shut up about him, sit down, look straight ahead.

Please, someone......

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:39 | 99385 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

The Boss is a no-talent, gravel-voiced hack. "Pink Cadillac" is the Peter Gunn Theme redubbed, and "Glory Days" is a bad quasi-cover of "Jack and Diane." And have you heard that awful Christmas album? Unlistenable. The Boss is dead. Long live the Boss.

Thu, 10/15/2009 - 11:23 | 99660 Sam Malone
Sam Malone's picture

Badmouthing Springsteen = Badmouthing America

Sun, 11/22/2009 - 17:10 | 138808 D.O.D.
D.O.D.'s picture

Then Springsteen is a bitx!

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:19 | 99128 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

Google is lightning fast these days; he is the CEO of Lazard, which is a huge financial advisory and asset management firm.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:33 | 99323 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

was

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:27 | 99370 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Not to be a stickler for details, its bread and butter is banking, its a 2nd rate (at best) asset management shop. Some years ago there was talk that "Lazard" would spin off A.M. to someone else so shareholder got the pure play in banking...Lehman's name popped up every so often as a buyer to pair the LAM Equity management with the Lehman FI management (LAM FI probably would have been flushed)...good thing for LAM THAT didn't happen....

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:27 | 99372 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Not to be a stickler for details, its bread and butter is banking, its a 2nd rate (at best) asset management shop. Some years ago there was talk that "Lazard" would spin off A.M. to someone else so shareholder got the pure play in banking...Lehman's name popped up every so often as a buyer to pair the LAM Equity management with the Lehman FI management (LAM FI probably would have been flushed)...good thing for LAM THAT didn't happen....

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:27 | 99145 SilverIsKing
SilverIsKing's picture

RIP.  Didn't know the man but it sounds as if he was one of the good guys.  Can't really afford to lose too many of those since they are a rare breed.

Now I hate to change the topic but let me know if anyone wants me to record the CNBC special tonight airing at 7pm.  It's called "DOW 10,000".  I'm not sure what it's about but CNBC seems to be real excited about it.  They are probably preparing the sequel already as I write this, tentatively entitled "DOW 6666, WTF HAPPENED?"

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:03 | 99223 Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper's picture

Should be called Dow 10,000 - Part Deux.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:13 | 99235 lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

Perhaps, Dow 10,000 2.0.

Sort of like QE 2.0

And like Tyler specualted, look for a 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 on both.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:42 | 99278 Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper's picture

Or Service Pack 2 (SP2) for all the Mac haters.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:34 | 99261 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

A fat guy who overindulged in just about everything edible, contributing to his own cardiac arrest.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:00 | 99095 DBLTapViper
DBLTapViper's picture

RIP

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:05 | 99105 geopol
geopol's picture

For those who were not aware of his life.

RIP Old friend

 

Bruce Wasserstein (born December 25, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, died October 14, 2009)[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:58 | 99405 Sqworl
Sqworl's picture

You forgot that he divorced his wife last year and married a 20 something asian girl...not a smart move with a bad internal clock!

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:20 | 99418 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Au contraire; With only one year to live, wouldn't you prefer to risk your life eating blow fish; than wasting away on a low sodium diet, that's high in fiber? 20 something Asian girls are the new Anna Nicole Smiths.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 21:23 | 99453 PolishHammer
PolishHammer's picture

Double

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 21:12 | 99455 PolishHammer
PolishHammer's picture

Alternatively, he knew he had little time left, so made most of it.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:07 | 99109 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

Is it actually fair to halt trading on LAZ just on account of this? I know the idea is to prevent a wild swing in shares... but who the hell cares? Would they halt trading if -- oh let's just say -- their offices were raided by the FBI? Probably not, right?

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:14 | 99118 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

You ABSOLUTELY have to halt trading in LAZ after Bruce dies.  How much does LAZ really have left after he's gone?  Keep in mind, he was the only reason why LAZ was advising Kraft on the Cadbury acquisition.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:30 | 99151 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

So an example of a company that is really just a person. Might be more of a risky investment than one might assume. And regular updates on the guy's health make more sense -- and lying about same more of an issue -- but his health is perhaps just one thing to worry about. Does he walk a dog? If so is he ever alone in a park after dark? Does he cross the street safely? Does he drive himself places, or does he have a driver, and does the guy pack a weapon "just in case"?

What are people investing in here? Why is their money tied up in a guy's health? Why is this company even listed on the Exchange if there's no tradeable value without the meat bag?

And then there's Apple, Inc == Steve Jobs, right? Maybe not quite the same comparison (Apple has other assets like an operating system) but you gotta wonder.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:39 | 99166 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

-- but his health is perhaps just one thing to worry about. Does he walk a dog? If so is he ever alone in a park after dark? Does he cross the street safely? Does he drive himself places, or does he have a driver, and does the guy pack a weapon "just in case"?

What are people investing in here? Why is their money tied up in a guy's health? Why is this company even listed on the Exchange if there's no tradeable value without the meat bag?

 

Cougar, you're absolutely right.  My bad.  I was just trying to put things into perspective for you.  Looks like you've done that yourself pretty well.

 

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:11 | 99359 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

no you don't have to halt trading....the market
will take care of itself if in fact it ever
becomes volatile...if it craps out oh well too bad

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:29 | 99149 Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh's picture

Information disclosure rules - material event or whatever the technical regulatory rule is.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:59 | 99446 Lou629
Lou629's picture

So, some "rules" still apply?  Who knew?  With everything else that's been going on, it would be almost no surprise if someone made an attempt to try a "Weekend @ Bernies" scenario if the story hadn't gotten out first.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:07 | 99110 justrichard
justrichard's picture

never met him though he seemed erudite and gentlemanly in his interviews...condolences to his friends.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:12 | 99120 crosey
crosey's picture

RIP. 

Hope you enjoyed the run and feel that you checked out at the top of your game.

Now you get to watch the rest of this unfold from the prime box seats.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:36 | 99326 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

hardly

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:18 | 99126 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

From the WSJ:

Lazard chief executive Bruce Wasserstein is dead, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Exact details of his passing could not be learned. A Lazard spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

 

The death of Mr. Wasserstein, 61 years old, is a blow to Lazard, the investment bank he has run for several years.

 

Mr. Wasserstein was one of the pre-eminent deal makers of his time, helping forge the modern image and role of the investment banker.

 

The descendant of Eastern European immigrants, Mr. Wasserstein attended college at 16 and earned law and business degrees from Harvard. After a stint as a corporate lawyer, he decamped to investment bank First Boston Corp. There, he and another deal maker, Joseph Perella, helped unleash the mergers and acquisitions boom that defined the 1980s.

 

During that decade Mr. Wasserstein forged the persona of the modern investment banker. For Mr. Wasserstein and a cadre of other sharp-witted young guns, banking was no longer the gentlemanly art practiced at places like Lazard. It was more akin to brawling in expensive suits, with tortuous financial tactics, platoons of lawyers and public relations deployed as M&A weapons.

 

After feuding with the management of First Boston, Messrs. Wasserstein and Perella left to start their own bank in 1988. Mr. Wasserstein revealed a fascination with the Lazard mystique. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 1988, he said of his new bank, Wasserstein, Perella &Co.: "We want to be the Lazard of the '90s."

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:26 | 99142 ardano
ardano's picture

LAZ, along with other smaller b/d's like Jefferies have a chance to grow since they no longer are competing against LEH or BSC.  BW was a shrewd dealmaker who will be missed.  Readers here should know better. 

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:26 | 99144 chet
chet's picture

Recent story in my neck of the woods of how Lazard destroyed Harry & David's by taking it from $0 to $250 million in debt.  No one in PE is a saint.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:28 | 99146 SilverIsKing
SilverIsKing's picture

Where was the CEO on that deal?

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:38 | 99165 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

[where was the CEO] Likely out front of the company HQ running up the Jolly Roger. Everyone is a pirate any more, siezing what goods they can get.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:45 | 99188 SilverIsKing
SilverIsKing's picture

Exactly, $250M in debt is good for my company if $50M of it goes into my pocket.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:39 | 99272 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

Bingo!

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:45 | 99190 John Self
John Self's picture

But it was a Jolly Roger made of white and dark chocolate, with a pretzel rod for a flag staff.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:44 | 99182 Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

With a name like "Bid 'Em Up Bruce," don't think this guy was in it for the shareholders.  That's not speaking poorly of him; it's just pointing out fact.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:37 | 99268 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Precisely.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 16:45 | 99183 HEHEHE
HEHEHE's picture

Nice of Brucie trying to hatchet job ZH before his own untimely demise.  That being said I'll let the big guy upstairs judge him. 

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:25 | 99249 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

he truly was the real life gordon gekko. greed is good.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:27 | 99252 Michael
Michael's picture

All these banksters have to die before all the Bush estate tax breaks expire. The sooner they die the better.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:35 | 99263 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

+1

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:26 | 99427 Johnny G.
Johnny G.'s picture

+1

We can only hope some crazy waiter poisons the soup at the Four Seasons during lunch.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:33 | 99257 HEHEHE
HEHEHE's picture

The Great One’s go in pairs

Captain Lou Albano Dies at 76

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93095/?fp=1

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 17:33 | 99259 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Anyone involved in dismantling companies or mergers and acquisitions like Wasserstein/Perella did, to 'maximize' shareholder value is not missed at all. What these vultures did, simply to eliminate G&A expenses, and take their pelf from that, is obscene.

His efforts were in the forefront of the juggermnaut to cause the demise of many an american institution through the taking on of junk debt, contributing to the collapse of employment in the hundreds of thousands. And for what? A big fee?

Some day the builders of organic companies may come to their own Valhalla where the likes of Brucie will lick their boots.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:03 | 99294 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

And i thought their press release:

...“His condition is serious, but he is stable and recovering,” Lazard said in the statement distributed through Business Wire...

was about the economy.

Now he's dead and
I KNOW THEY MEANT THE ECONOMY

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:11 | 99302 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Someone with an estate the size of Bruce's has already hired lots of tax advisors to set up trusts that will never NEVER EVER trigger the estate tax rules.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:28 | 99318 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Is there any relationship between Wasserstein and General Growth Properties or Miller Buckfire that would cause GGP to spike after his death was announced?

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:30 | 99319 jeffinoregon
jeffinoregon's picture

The CEO of Harry & David is no pirate, and for sure Wasserstein was no saint.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 18:37 | 99328 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

this is sad; he had all this money and now he is dead. villfied by many, possibly he will be missed by many also. but what good will that help him where he has gone? how very sad.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 19:27 | 99371 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

When insulting someone's ignornance it wuld be wize to spell grammer correktly.

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 20:42 | 99439 Jus7tme
Jus7tme's picture

How is this a "developing" story? Is Wasserstein going to rise from the dead soon?

Wed, 10/14/2009 - 21:08 | 99450 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Bruce went quietly. Will the rest be so lucky?

Thu, 10/15/2009 - 03:57 | 99508 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

good riddance

Thu, 10/15/2009 - 03:58 | 99510 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

good riddance

Fri, 10/16/2009 - 09:25 | 100714 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

In a roundabout and totally serendipitous way, I confirmed the identity of one "Tyler Durden" today. TD is, in fact, the Bulgarian immigrant whom the New York Magazine and writer Joe Hagan reported him to be. Why? Because I posted a comment anonymously when I could not log in, but the comment was filtered. In it I made admittedly tasteless light of the fact that shortly after the New York article re Zero Hedge, owner Bruce Wasserstein passed. The verb I used was that Wasserstein had been Markov'd. Other than Renaissance men with the sense of the absurb, or former Company men who have always followed the exploits of the KGB turned FSB (or Darzhavna Sigurnost, ??), the only people who know off the top of the head who Georgi Markov is would be Bulgarians.

Your secret is safe with me.

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