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Marc Lasry

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Marc Lasry
Born (1959-09-23) September 23, 1959 (age 65)[1]
essaouira, Morocco
NationalityAmerican
EducationClark University (BA)
New York Law School (JD)
Occupation(s)Private equity investor
Hedge fund manager
Known forCo-founder of Avenue Capital Group, and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks
SpouseCathy Cohen
Children5, including Alex
FamilySonia Gardner (sister)

Marc Lasry (born September 23, 1959) is a Moroccan-American billionaire businessman and hedge fund manager. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Avenue Capital Group, and the co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.

Early life and education

Lasry was born in Essaouira to a family of Jews.[2] When he was seven years old, he and his family immigrated to the U.S.[3] His father, Moise, was a computer programmer and his mother, Elise, was a schoolteacher.[4][5] Lasry grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut and received a B.A. in history from Clark University in 1981 and a J.D. from New York Law School in 1984. While in law school, he worked as a clerk for the Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the Southern District of New York, Edward Ryan.[6]

Career

After graduating from law school, Lasry took a position in the bankruptcy branch of the law firm Angel & Frankel.[6] Together with his sister Sonia Gardner, they founded Amroc Investments in 1989 and Avenue Capital Group in 1995. One year later[6] Lasry became the director of the private debt department at the investment firm R. D. Smith, now Smith Vasillou Management.[7] This is where Lasry first got involved in trade claims. He then took a position as co-director of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Department at Cowen & Company.[7] There Lasry recruited his sister Sonia Gardner, also an attorney, to assist in the company's trade claims department.[7] Lasry left Cowen & Company and joined the Robert M. Bass Group, focused on distressed security investments.

In 1989, Lasry and his sister founded the firm Amroc Investments with $100 million in seed money from various investors. Amroc purchased both trade claims and bank debt held by vendors of bankrupt and/or distressed companies.[2] In 1995, Lasry and Gardner invested $7 million of their own capital and founded the Avenue Capital Group, which initially focused on distressed debt and special situations primarily in the United States,including getting involved in Puerto Rican government-debt crisis.[8] The partners successfully expanded the firm's investment focus to Europe and Asia. The two went on to build their hedge fund, which had as much as $11 billion in assets under management.[4]

In 2010, Lasry also took control of Trump Entertainment Resorts as it went through its third bankruptcy. In October 2011, Lasry and Donald Trump announced plans to set up an online gambling venture — if and when the United States legalizes such betting.[9] On January 12, 2013 when the reorganizing of Trump Entertainment made marked progress, Lasry resigned as the casino company's chairman of the board.[10]

In 2013, Lasry was considered for the position of U.S. ambassador to France, but declined consideration for business reasons.[11] In 2014 Forbes listed Lasry as one of the 25 highest-earning hedge fund managers in 2013, with total earnings of $280 million.[12]

In April 2014, Lasry became co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks after purchasing the team from Herb Kohl for $550 million.[13] Following the 2016 U.S. election, Lasry and the Milwaukee Bucks became one of three NBA teams to openly state they would not be staying at Trump branded hotels when on the road.[14]

In 2021, Lasry stepped down as the chair of Ozy.[15][16] He also touted about investing in China, saying "Now Is A Great Time To Be Investing In China"[17]

Lasry is the largest shareholder of Amplify Energy, an energy company responsible for an October 2021 oil spill in Orange County, California. Amplify was charged by a federal grand jury in December 2021 for criminal negligence in connection with their role in the oil spill. The about 25,000 gallons oil spill was “in a quantity that may be harmful to the public health, welfare and environment of the United States,”[18][19]

Philanthropy

In 2004, Lasry and his wife contributed support to the University of Pennsylvania and co-chaired the Penn Parent Leadership Committee.[20] In 2005 they donated $5 million to Clark University for the construction of the "Cathy '83 and Marc '81 Lasry Center for Bioscience".[21]

Lasry served as a director of the 92nd Street Y and the Big Apple Circus and was a trustee of the Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan).[22]

In January 2016 Lasry participated in "Portfolios with Purpose," an annual stock selection contest in which participants pick portfolios on behalf of their favorite charities.[23] Lasry resigned from the board of The Weinstein Company along with fellow board members Dirk Edward Ziff and Tim Sarnoff, after allegations of sexual assault were disclosed.[24]

Personal life

Lasry is married to Cathy Cohen and they have five children.[4][6] Their son, Alex, worked for White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. In February 2021, Alex Lasry announced that he would be running for the Wisconsin Senate seat in 2022 as a Democrat. The Senate seat is currently held by Republican Ron Johnson.[25] Their daughter, Samantha, was a staffer for congressman Rahm Emanuel.[26]

Lasry is a member of Kappa Beta Phi.[27]

Lasry is a major Democratic Party donor[28] while considering a Democratic sweep in election “bad for stocks”.[29] He backed Kamala Harris in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary, stating that he "would like to have somebody who’s in the middle" as the party's candidate.[30]

In 2019, Lasry played on the "Away" roster during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at the Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.[31]

References

  1. ^ cityfile. "Happy Birthday". gawker.com. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Wee, Gillian (February 15, 2012). "Lasry Sees Europe Bankruptcy Bonanza as Bad Debts Obscure Assets". Bloomberg. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  3. ^ Tablet Magazine: "The Next Owner of ‘Newsweek’ Will Be Jewish – A plea against one of the candidates" By Marc Tracy July 30, 2010
  4. ^ a b c Bloomberg: "Lasry Sees Europe Bankruptcy Bonanza as Bad Debts Obscure Assets" February 14, 2012
  5. ^ Ahuja, Maneet (May 3, 2012). The alpha masters unlocking the genius of the world's top hedge funds. Hoboken, N.J.+: Wiley. p. 79. ISBN 978-1118167571.
  6. ^ a b c d New York Law School alumni Bulletin: "Spotlight Luncheon: A Conversation with Marc Lasry '84" retrieved June 18, 2013
  7. ^ a b c Ahuja, Maneet (May 29, 2012). The alpha masters : unlocking the genius of the world's top hedge funds. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. pp. 79–81. ISBN 978-1118065525.
  8. ^ Morales, Ed (August 19, 2015), "Is an Obama Donor Tying the President's Hands on Puerto Rico's Debt Crisis?", The Nation
  9. ^ Wee, Gillian (February 25, 2012), "Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital sees opportunity in Europe's distressed assets", Washington Post
  10. ^ Trump Entertainment Chairman, Marc Lasry, Resigns from Board, January 12, 2013
  11. ^ Tausche, Kayla (April 26, 2013). "Why Lasry Said 'Non Merci". Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  12. ^ Vardi, Nathan (February 26, 2014), "The 25 Highest-Earning Hedge Fund Managers And Traders", Forbes
  13. ^ "NBA owners approve sale of Bucks to Edens, Lasry". nba.com. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  14. ^ Kwesi, Marcus (November 16, 2016). "Why Some NBA Teams Reportedly Won't Stay At Donald Trump-Branded Hotels". NESN.com. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  15. ^ "Marc Lasry has stepped down as chair of OZY, the media company at the center of an impersonation scandal involving YouTube and Goldman Sachs". Business Insider.
  16. ^ "Marc Lasry, chairman of embattled media org Ozy, resigns". Associated Press. September 30, 2021.
  17. ^ "'Now Is A Great Time To Be Investing In China': Avenue Capital Group CEO Marc Lasry". Forbes. May 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "Amplify Energy and subsidiaries charged with negligence in Orange County oil spill". Los Angeles Times. December 16, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  19. ^ Lahiri, Tripti (October 4, 2021). "Hedge fund investor Marc Lasry's tough week just got a lot worse". Quartz. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  20. ^ Kazan, Dan. "The Lasry Family Professorship in Race Relations". Left Justified.
  21. ^ "Clark University names new biosciences center". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  22. ^ Spector, Mike (March 27, 2010). "Avenue Capital's Investor in Chief". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  23. ^ Sinclair, Nicole (January 7, 2016). "Hedge fund manager Marc Lasry: Positive on energy, Clinton and charity". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  24. ^ Chokshi, Niraj; Twohey, Megan (October 6, 2017). "Company Scrambles as Weinstein Takes Leave and a Third of the Board Resigns". The New York Times. Meanwhile, three members of the board — Dirk Ziff, a billionaire investor; Marc Lasry, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and chief executive of Avenue Capital Group, an investment firm; and Tim Sarnoff, president of production services and deputy chief executive of Technicolor — have resigned, according to a board member and a company executive.
  25. ^ Nunley, Christian (February 17, 2021). "Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry to run for Senate in 2022". CNBC.
  26. ^ MacIntosh, Jeane (April 27, 2013). "Flushed diplo pick tight with Bill & Bam". New York Post. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  27. ^ Roose, Kevin (2014). Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street's Post-Crash Recruits. London, UK: John Murray (Publishers), An Hachette UK Company. p. 209. ISBN 978-1-47361-161-0.
  28. ^ Bunch, Will (February 22, 2016). "Meet the fossil-fuel loving hedge fund billionaire behind Hillary's surge". Philly.com. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  29. ^ Stankiewicz, Kevin (August 19, 2020). "Democratic election sweep would be bad for stocks, says Biden-backer Marc Lasry". CNBC. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  30. ^ Belvedere, Matthew J. (November 15, 2019). "Democratic billionaire Marc Lasry says stock market would fall 20%-30% if Warren wins presidency". CNBC. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  31. ^ release, Official. "ESPN and NBA announce celebrity rosters and coaches for 2019 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Ruffles exclusively on ESPN". NBA.com. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
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