Bruce Wasserstein, the legendary banker who was head of Lazard Brothers investment bank, has died at age 61. He was hospitalized Sunday 11 October with an irregular heartbeat, and was considered in “serious, but stable condition.” Wasserstein had been involved in investment deals since the 1970s and his tactical genius helped to bring investment banking to the forefront of the modern banking industry. He is estimated to have made over 1,000 investment deals worth over $250 billion.

In the 1990s, Wasserstein formed his own investment boutique with colleague Joseph Perella, which he later sold to Dresdner Bank for $1.5b. In 2002, he joined Lazard Frères and brokered that family-held company’s succession problems and took it public. Lazard Brothers named Stephen Golub interim chief executive. Reuters, Wall Street Journal

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