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Wall St. Dealmaker Wasserstein Dead at 61

By the Associated Press

Posted Oct 14, 2009 4:16 PM CDT

(AP) – Bruce Wasserstein, the CEO of Lazard Ltd. and one of Wall Street's most prominent dealmakers, is dead at 61. He had been hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat on Sunday. Wasserstein had been a fixture on Wall Street since the 1980s. He worked on such landmark deals as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' takeover of RJR Nabisco, and the Morgan Stanley-Dean Witter and AOL-Time Warner mergers.

Aside from his work at Lazard, Wasserstein was chairman of Wasserstein & Co., a private investment firm. It has investments in companies ranging from Penton Media, a publisher of trade magazines, to gourmet food seller Harry & David. Wasserstein also owns New York Media Holdings LLC, which publishes New York magazine.

Bruce Wasserstein in 2006.
Bruce Wasserstein in 2006.   (AP Photo/Shiho Fukada, file)
Bruce Wasserstein in a 2006 file photo.
Bruce Wasserstein in a 2006 file photo.   (SHIHO FUKADA)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
Thinker
Oct 15, 2009 12:34 PM CDT
Dear Unaffiliated, death can represent the end of tyranny. I would have been happy when Hitler was (supposedly) killed, too, if I'd been around. And, I did celebrate the death of Jeffrey Dahmer. And I will rejoice when Charles Manson dies, as well as all the still-living Nazi war criminals. Oh, and the a-holes who kidnapped young girls to be their sex slaves ... the list is too long to mention on here. I'm not a Christian and I don't pretend to be righteous.
Thinker
Oct 15, 2009 12:30 PM CDT
Divetrader, it doesn't matter who the rich are. "Love of money is the root of all evil." If the right-wing were sincere about their wanting to rid the planet of evil, they would begin their little crusade at home, on Wall Street. After all, whom do you think supports these big, evil companies?
divetrader
Oct 15, 2009 12:25 PM CDT
You are so silly Thinker. But there isn't anyone more deserving to die than someone affiliated with KKR and RJR Nabisco. KKR is one of the IRAq contractors who provided tainted water to our troops. Also, RJR is obviously famous for providing people with cancer sticks. I doubt that he suffered as much as people using his companies products.

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