Marc Lasry | |
---|---|
Born | [1] Marrakesh, Morocco | September 23, 1959
Nationality | Moroccan, American |
Education | Clark University (BA) New York Law School (JD) |
Occupation(s) | Private equity investor Hedge fund manager |
Known for | Co-founder of Avenue Capital Group, and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks |
Spouse | Cathy Cohen |
Children | 5, including Alex |
Family | Sonia Gardner (sister) |
Marc Lasry (born September 23, 1959) is a Moroccan American billionaire businessman and private equity manager. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Avenue Capital Group. He was a co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks basketball team from 2014 to 2023.
Lasry was born in to a Jewish family in Marrakesh, Morocco. [2] When he was seven years old, he and his family immigrated to the U.S, right before the outbreak of the Six Day War in 1967. [3] [4] His father, Moise, was a computer programmer and his mother, Elise, was a schoolteacher. [5] [6] 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. [7]
After graduating from law school, Lasry took a position in the bankruptcy branch of the law firm Angel & Frankel. [7] Together with his sister Sonia Gardner, an attorney, they founded Amroc Investments in 1989 and Avenue Capital Group in 1995. One year later [7] Lasry became the Director of the Private Debt Department at the investment firm R. D. Smith, now Smith Vasillou Management. [8] 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. [8] There Lasry recruited his sister Sonia to assist in the company's trade claims department. [8] 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. [9] 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. [5]
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. [10] On January 12, 2013 when the reorganization of Trump Entertainment had made marked progress, Lasry resigned as the casino company's chairman of the board. [11]
In 2013, Lasry was considered for the position of U.S. ambassador to France, but declined consideration for business reasons. [12] In 2014 Forbes listed Lasry as one of the 25 highest-earning hedge fund managers in 2013, with total earnings of $280 million. [13]
In April 2014, Lasry became co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks after purchasing the team from Herb Kohl for $550 million with Wes Edens. [14] 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. [15]
In 2021, Lasry stepped down as the chair of Ozy. [16] [17] He also touted about investing in China, saying "Now is a great time to be investing in China" [18]
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 25,000-gallon oil spill was “in a quantity that may be harmful to the public health, welfare and environment of the United States,” [19] [20]
In 2023, Lasry entered an agreement to sell his 25% stake of the Bucks to Dee and Jimmy Haslam. [21] [22] The NBA Board of Governors approved the sale on April 14, 2023. [23] [24] The following month Lasry announced a women's sports investment fund, Avenue Sports Fund, at SALT's New York iConnections conference. [25] The fund is an investor in The Bay Golf Club of the TGL [26] alongside Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson. [27]
In 2004, Lasry and his wife contributed support to the University of Pennsylvania and co-chaired the Penn Parent Leadership Committee. [28] In 2005 they donated $5 million to Clark University for the construction of the "Cathy '83 and Marc '81 Lasry Center for Bioscience". [29]
Lasry served as a director of the 92nd Street Y and the Big Apple Circus and was a trustee of the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. [30]
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. [31]
In October 2017, Lasry, Dirk Ziff and Tim Sarnoff resigned from The Weinstein Company's board following the publication of a New York Times investigation into the claims against Mr. Weinstein. [32]
Lasry is married to Cathy Cohen and they have five children. [5] [7] The family continues to practice some of the distinctive customs of the Moroccan Jewish community. [3] Their son, Alex, worked for White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and was a candidate for the United States Senate in 2022. [33] Their daughter, Samantha, was a staffer for congressman Rahm Emanuel. [34]
Lasry is a member of Kappa Beta Phi. [35]
Lasry is a major Democratic Party donor [36] while considering a Democratic sweep in election “bad for stocks”. [37] 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. [38]
Lasry was a board member of the 92nd Street Y. [3]
In 2019, Lasry played on the "Away" roster during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. [39]
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and plays at Fiserv Forum. Former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, but on April 16, 2014, a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wes Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a sale which was approved by the owners of the NBA and its Board of Governors one month later on May 16. The team is managed by Jon Horst, the team's former director of basketball operations, who took over for John Hammond.
The Bradley Center was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.
D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. is a multinational investment management firm founded in 1988 by David E. Shaw and based in New York City. The company is known for developing complicated mathematical models and computer programs to exploit anomalies in financial markets. As of December 1, 2023, D. E. Shaw has $60 billion in AUM, including alternative investments and long strategies.
Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding such distressed-debt creates significant risk due to the possibility that bankruptcy may render such securities worthless.
TPG Angelo Gordon is a global alternative investment manager founded in 1988 by John Angelo and Michael Gordon who together ran the arbitrage department of L.F. Rothschild in the 1980s. The firm focuses on four main investment disciplines: credit, real estate, private equity, and multi-strategy.
Avenue Capital Group is an American multinational investment firm focusing on distressed securities and private equity with regional teams focusing on opportunities in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm operates as both a private equity firm and as a hedge fund. Avenue's core strategy is focused on distressed debt and equity securities although the firm also manages investment funds that focus on long-short opportunities, real estate, and collateralized debt obligations. The firm manages assets valued at approximately $9.5 billion. The firm was founded by former professionals of Amroc Investments, an affiliate of the Robert M. Bass Group.
Appaloosa Management is an American hedge fund founded in 1993 by David Tepper and Jack Walton specializing in distressed debt. Appaloosa Management invests in public equity and fixed income markets around the world.
Dirk Edward Ziff is an American billionaire businessman, the eldest son of publishing magnate William Bernard Ziff Jr. and grandson of William Bernard Ziff Sr. He and his two brothers inherited the family fortune in 1994.
James Arthur Haslam III is an American businessman and sports executive. He is the chairman of the board of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain. He and his wife Dee own the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS), and a stake in the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Haslam has won two MLS Cup Championships as owner of the Crew.
Sonia Gardner is an American businesswoman, hedge fund manager and the co-founder of Avenue Capital Group.
James Gerard Dinan is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He founded York Capital Management in 1991.
Susan "Dee" Haslam is an American businesswoman. She is the founder and executive producer of RIVR Media and CEO of the Haslam Sports Group. Dee is a co-owner of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), along with her husband, Jimmy Haslam. The Haslams are also majority investors in the ownership group of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS) – with two MLS Cup champions during their tenure, and have a partial ownership stake in the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Assured Investment Management is an institutional asset management firm, with a heritage in credit strategies. The firm manages approximately $15 billion as of 2022.
Fiserv Forum is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the home of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball team of Marquette University.
Wesley Robert Edens is an American billionaire businessman and private equity investor. He is the co-founder of Fortress Investment Group and founder of New Fortress Energy. Edens is co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise of the NBA based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While Edens was co-owner, the Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship. He is also the co-owner of association football holding company V Sports alongside Nassef Sawiris, whose assets include ownership of Premier League football club Aston Villa and an agreement to purchase a 46% stake in Portuguese Primeira Liga team Vitória S.C.
Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith, and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. The company added more newspapers to its portfolio in May 2021 when it purchased Tribune Publishing and became the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States.
Alexander Jacob Lasry is an American businessperson and executive of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lasry was a Democratic candidate in the 2022 United States Senate election in Wisconsin, but withdrew before the primary. He is the son of former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry.
Anchorage Capital Group is an American investment management firm based in New York City. The firm is known as one of the world's most prominent vulture funds, funds that invest in distressed securities.
HPS Investment Partners (HPS) is an American investment firm headquartered in New York City. The firm focuses on investments in private credit and public credit as well as private equity and real assets. Outside the United States, the firm also has offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.