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By: Serach Nissim
The tragic suicide of financier Thomas H. Lee shocked the world of Wall Street, where he had pioneered the leveraged-buyout industry decades ago. Lee, 78, was not just your typical Wall Street tycoon, however. Those who knew him said he was so much more than a billionaire. On Thursday, Lee left behind his wife of 27 years, Ann Tennenbaum, as well as five children and two grandchildren. “I was in contact with him Wednesday — there was no indication [of strife], and I knew him for 20-23 years,” a neighbor, who declined to give his name, told the Post. “I’m as shocked as anybody. He was an extraordinary person, successful, has a lovely family, and they’re all pretty damn good kids growing up, and they’re well-educated.” He added, “You know, if you picked somebody [to commit suicide], I would have never picked him. He was very positive, very friendly, very nice guy.”
As per the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Lee was also an esteemed philanthropist. He was a benefactor to numerous charities and nonprofit institutions, including his alma mater, Harvard University, as well as many museums and arts organizations. In 1996, he had gifted $22 million to Harvard, with the donation being ranked among the largest donations to the school from a living alumnus, his family said. “I’ve been lucky to make some money. I’m more than happy to give some of it back,” Mr Lee had said at the time. Lee, who was born to a Jewish family, also served as a trustee on the board of Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Brandeis University, Cardozo Law School at Yeshiva University, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the Intrepid Museum Foundation, NYU Medical Center, and Rockefeller University.
Also, he was a friend and contributor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, having hosted them frequently at his East Hamptons mansion. Lee had an estimated net worth of $2 billion at the end of his life, as per Forbes. One source for the Post, who was familiar with Lee’s philanthropic activities called him “one of the most generous, and kindest people [I] ever met.”
Lee had made his fortune by founding one of the biggest and first private equity firms in the world– Thomas H. Lee Partners, and subsequently founding Lee Equity Partners. Per the WSJ, he started leveraged buyouts, which is where a small amount of equity is put down to buy a company with hefty bank loans, allowing for big returns on minimal personal investment. “I knew Tom for over 40 years to be a creative and original thinker in the worlds of business, art and philanthropy,” said Leon Black, co-founder of private-equity giant Apollo Global Management Inc., who said he was Lee’s banker in the 1980s while working at Drexel. “I will miss his friendship, warmth and marvelous sense of humor.”
Per the Post, in a statement issued on Thursday, Lee’s family friend and spokesman Michael Sitrick said the family was “extremely saddened” by his passing. “While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own,” Sitrick said.
