Julius Anthony "Tony" Forstmann (May 22, 1938 - January 31, 2023) was an American financier. He is one of the founding partners of Forstmann-Leff & Associates, one of the first hedge funds in the United States, along with Joel B. Leff. He was an original investor in Forstmann Little and Company and he also founded Forstmann and Co., a merchant bank.

Career

Forstmann-Leff

Forstmann-Leff & Associates was founded in 1967 as a private incentive investment management organization by J. Anthony Forstmann and Joel B. Leff with the specific objective of managing money intensively for an above-average rate of return. They served as investment advisers to pension funds and were one of the original hedge funds in the US. By 1985 the firm had grown to $5 Billion under management. The firm's clients included

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of Indiana, The Pension Guarantee Corp. The Ford Family, Northrop,

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, Lockheed,

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, Commercial Credit,

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, the City of

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, the State of

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, the State of

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, the

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, and the

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. Forstmann-Leff & Associates achieved an average compounded yearly gain of 22 per cent on the investment partnerships. Forstmann-Leff "outperformed all of the firms monitored by Investment Manager Profiles in the Balanced Account category." Forstmann continued as managing director of Forstmann-Leff until 1991. Forstmann's brother

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

also worked at Forstmann-Leff as council until he left to found Forstmann Little & Co. with another brother Nick. Joel Leff and Tony Forstmann were part of the original investors of Forstmann Little & Co. "Forstmann-Leff Associates was one of the nation's most prosperous investment firms, with a consistent, long term performance record that is matched by few other managers" Forstmann was a founding partner and investor in Instinet, the first

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Forstmann Little & Co.

Forstmann was an original investor in

Forstmann Little & Company Forstmann, Little & Company was a private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). At its peak in the late 1990s, Forstmann Little was among the largest private equity firms globally. Ultimately, the firm would suffer from the burs ...

in 1975 with his two brothers, Theodore J Forstmann (Ted) and Nicholas C Forstmann (Nick). At its peak, the company was one of the largest private equity firms globally and specialized in leveraged buyouts. He remained a special limited partner until his brother's passing.

Forstmann & Co.

In 1987 he founded Forstmann & Co to create a merchant banking platform. Prior to founding Forstmann-Leff & Associates, Forstmann held various positions within the investment banking firms of G. H. Walker & Co, Wertheim, and Smith Barney & Co.

Director

Biography

Forstmann was born on May 22, 1938, in Manhattan to Dorothy (née Mercadante) and Julius Forstmann, who were of Italian and German descent, respectively. He was the firstborn of six children and raised in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

. His father had inherited Forstmann Woolen Co., from his grandfather, who was one of the richest men in the world at the time. Forstmann graduated from

Greenwich Country Day School The Greenwich Country Day School is a co-educational, independent day school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States, founded in 1926. As of 2019, it enrolled some 1190 students from nursery to 12th grade level. In November 2017, Greenwich Coun ...

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

. Forstmann has six children; William Anthony Forstmann, Candida Anthony, Christina Giammalva, Baron Forstmann, Luke Forstmann, Kelly Forstmann. He is married to Cathie Shirriff Forstmann. Forstmann is currently on the Leadership Council of the

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. It is consistently rated among the best schools of public health in the cou ...

. In 1985, Forstmann started The Huggy Bear tennis tournament in Southampton, NY which evolved over 22 years into a major fund raising event for children's charities. Forstmann's brothers

and Nick joined forces in 1989 and the tournament ran for 22 years, raising millions of dollars for children globally. He died on January 31, 2023, at age 84 from natural causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forstmann, Julius A. 1940 births American chief executives of financial services companies American financiers Philanthropists from New York (state) Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut Businesspeople from Manhattan Private equity and venture capital investors Columbia Business School alumni Yale University alumni Living people Phillips Academy alumni