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Lebenthal Seeks Gripes at ‘Ladies Who Don’t Lunch’ Soiree in Manhattan

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As Page Six has reported, “society staple” Alexandra Lebenthal hosted her annual “Ladies Who Don’t Lunch” lunch in the ‘21’ Club’s Wine Cellar having requested, for some reason, that the guests come armed with their pet peeves. Among the responses:

“People who post #blessed on social media when it really means #rich.”

“People looking over your shoulder and around for someone better to talk to.”

“Bad grammar in e-mails.”

“Plastic cups at parties.”

Among those attending, Page Six said, were journalist Deborah Roberts, JPMorgan’s Liz Myers, fashion journalist Kate Betts, Silda Wall Spitzer and Tory Burch design director Gigi Mortimer.

Lebenthal, of course, is no stranger to media reports. Back in early June 2017, Fortune magazine reported that “One of the last of Wall Street’s iconic boutique firms will no longer be run by the family that gave it its name. Alexandra Lebenthal, CEO of Lebenthal & Co, the firm started by her grandparents in 1925, is stepping down as CEO; her brother James, chief of asset management, is leaving the firm. The asset management division will continue under the Lebenthal name.

And so will the capital markets business that Alexandra built over the past decade; both businesses will be run by managers now at the firm. In fact, Alexandra will still act as a “managing member” of the team, according to the press release issued June 7. But the Lebenthals are relinquishing all control, marking an historic reversal of fortune for the clan that built a leading brand in municipal bonds, through the rollicking, unforgettable TV ads featuring Alexandra’s pitchman father Jim (“Bonds are my babies”) Lebenthal.

“We were still doing great in our other businesses, then we expanded much too fast into wealth management,” Alexandra told Fortune’s Shawn Tully. “We didn’t bring in enough assets and revenues to match the expenses.”

Earlier in the year, Bloomberg had reported that Lebenthal Holdings had agreed to sell its asset-management business and woman-owned broker dealer to South Street Securities Holdings Inc., the brokerage whose investors include former Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Robert Diamond.

South Street purchased a 49 percent ownership interest in Lebenthal & Co. and a 100 percent stake in Lebenthal Asset Management, run by Alexandra’s brother James, according to a statement issued by Pi Capital International LLC, South Street’s investment bank for the transaction. Alexandra Lebenthal retained her 51 percent stake in Lebenthal & Co. after the transaction.

“Lebenthal has struggled to keep her business afloat in recent years,” Bloomberg noted, “having opened and shuttered a municipal-bond operation as underwriting opportunities dwindled and the amount of municipal debt dropped to a multi-year low. In August, she also closed a 3-year-old wealth-advisory unit that never gained traction.”

By Kenneth H.R. Robeson

 

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