Lazard CEO Wasserstein Dies

Bruce Wasserstein, one of the original corporate raiders and Chairman and CEO of investment bank Lazard, has died.

He was 61. A cause of death wasn’t immediately available.

Wasserstein, who started his career as a lawyer and quickly moved into investment banking, was involved in some of the most high-profile deals of the 1980s, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ takeover of RJR Nabisco.

A former college journalist—he was executive editor of the Michigan Daily while an undergrad at the University of Michigan—Wasserstein was deeply involved in big media deals later, Portfolio reported. In 1997, he put together American Lawyer Media Group, which includes American Lawyer, the National Law Journal, and New York Law Journal.

In 2003, at the last minute, he outbid a group that included Mort Zuckerman, Harvey Weinstein, and journalist Michael Wolff to acquire New York magazine.

Most recently, Wasserstein was able to guide Lazard—in which he was the largest shareholder—through the Wall Street meltdown of last fall.