Bruce Wasserstein

Bruce Wasserstein was born in Brooklyn on Christmas day, and he was the type of dealmaker that inspires legends. He served as CEO and chairman of Lazard, an investment bank, until he passed away in October of 2007. Not only did Wasserstein enjoy a career as a financier, he also owned several media outlets, such as New York Magazine.

Bruce WassersteinWasserstein attended the University of Michigan until he was 19, when he enrolled in Harvard's law program. There, he spent most of his free time volunteering for consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and after he graduated, he got a job at Cravath. Not long after that, Wasserstein abandoned his law practice to work at First Boston, where he quickly became a co-head of their merger advisory group. When his partner departed after a dispute, Wasserstein went ahead by himself. During the 90s. he helped united ABC with Capital Cities, Swiss Bank with UBS, and Dean Witter with Morgan Stanley. He cashed out his interest in 2000, selling First Boston to Dresdner Bank. Two years after that, he got the job at Lazard.

Over his entire career, Wasserstein was an advisor on over a thousand deals, which were worth more than $250 billion. He earned the nickname "Bid 'em Up Bruce" for his aggressive takeover methods. Following the sale of his company in 2000, many assumed that he would retire or enter a career in public service, but Wasserstein had other ideas. He was highly successful, making Lazard very competitive with others like Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. The global financial meltdown, which brought many of Wall Street's biggest banks to their knees, had little impact on Lazard. However, the firm faced a major challenge when Wasserstein was hospitalized with a heart condition, which ultimately caused his death.

Up until his passing, Wasserstein maintained an investment and media empire. He made a few enemies on Wall Street when he united with Carl Icahn against Time Warner's attempts to break up his media conglomerate. The interesting fact is that Time Warner was once Wasserstein's client and that Wasserstein himself was instrumental in Time Warner's unsuccessful merger with AOL. Wasserstein was different from other Wall Street tycoons; he did not go to lavish parties every night and he did not like dealing with corporate bureaucracy. He was quite the philanthropist- in 2007, he donated $25 million to Harvard Law for a new student center. He was also a supporter of various Democratic causes, including Hilary Clinton's presidential bid.

Wasserstein was four times married, splitting with his first wife in 1974. He had three children with Christine Parrott, his second wife. When that marriage dissolved, Bruce Wasserstein married again, having two more children (Dash and Jack). In turn, that marriage also ended, allowing Wasserstein to marry his fourth wife, shipping exec Angela Chao, in 2009.