Wasserstein and his $2.5 billion fortune. You are, however, familiar with his handiwork. He was a sly player in the 1989 acquisition of RJR Nabisco by KKR, a story memorialized in the book Barbarians at the Gate. Bruce was involved in thousands of deals worth a cumulative $250 billion, including the mergers that created Time Warner, Morgan Stanley and UBS. More recently, Wasserstein staged a high profile turnaround of the white shoe investment bank Lazard.
Never satisfied with his intense day job, Bruce's private equity firm Wasserstein & Co. holds stakes in the popular New York magazine, and the delicious Harry & David gift basket retailer, among others. He was a rumored bidder in the sale of Business Week. Not too shabby, even for a graduate of BOTH Harvard Business School and Harvard Law.
The life of an uber banker doesn't allow for much personal time, but Bruce managed to squeeze in 4 marriages, 3 divorces and 5 kids. He married the lovely 35 year-old Asian shipping heiress, Angela Chao. Together they shared a penthouse apartment on 5th Avenue in Manhattan and a $44 million estate in East Hampton.
