Bruce Wasserstein

Bruce Wasserstein
Historical photo of Bruce Wasserstein
Born	Bruce Jay Wasserstein (1947-12-25)December 25, 1947 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	October 14, 2009(2009-10-14) (aged 61) New York City
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Michigan Harvard Business School Harvard Law School
Occupation	Investment banker
Employer	Lazard Ltd; Dresdner Bank; Wasserstein Perella & Co.; First Boston Corp.
Spouse(s)	Laura Lynelle Killin (m. 1968; div. 1974) Christine Parrott (m. N/A; div. 1992) Claude Becker (m. 1996; div. 2008) Angela Chao (m. 2009)
Children	six (6 biological) with Parrott: –Ben Wasserstein –Pam Wasserstein –Scoop Wasserstein with Becker: –Jack Wasserstein –Dash Wasserstein with Erin McCarthy: –Sky Wasserstein
Parent(s)	Morris Wasserstein Lola Schleifer

Bruce Jay Wasserstein (December 25, 1947 – October 14, 2009) was an American investment banker, businessman, and writer. He was a graduate of the McBurney School,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.

Wasserstein was born and raised in Midwood, Brooklyn, New York, one of five children of Lola (née Schleifer) and Morris Wasserstein. His father, a Jewish immigrant from pre-World War II Poland, emigrated to New York City and started a ribbon company. His maternal grandfather was Simon Schleifer, a Jewish teacher in the yeshiva in Wloclawek, Poland who later emigrated to Paterson, New Jersey and became a Hebrew school principal.

Starting his career as a Cravath, Swaine & Moore attorney, Wasserstein moved to First Boston Corp. in 1977 and eventually rose to co-head of their then-dominant merger and acquisition practice. In 1988, with colleague Joseph Perella, he left First Boston to form investment bank boutique Wasserstein Perella & Co., which he sold in 2000, at the top of the late 1990s bull market, to Germany's Dresdner Bank for around $1.4 billion in stock. In 2002, he left the unit Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (formed by merging Dresdner's United Kingdom unit Kleinwort Benson with Wasserstein Perella) to become head of Lazard. In 2005, he led the initial public offering of Lazard and became the public firm's first Chairman and CEO.