Marc Lasry

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. When he was seven years old, he and his family immigrated to the U.S.Tablet Magazine: "The Next Owner of ‘Newsweek’ Will Be Jewish – A plea against one of the candidates" By Marc Tracy
July 30, 2010 His father, Moise, was a computer programmer and his mother, Elise, was a schoolteacher.
February 14, 2012 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.New York Law School alumni Bulletin: "Spotlight Luncheon: A Conversation with Marc Lasry '84"
retrieved June 18, 2013

Career

After graduating from law school, Lasry took a position in the bankruptcy branch of the law firm Angel & Frankel. Together with his sister Sonia Gardner, they founded Amroc Investments in 1989 and Avenue Capital Group in 1995. One year later Lasry became the director of the private debt department at the investment firm R. D. Smith, now Smith Vasillou Management. 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. There Lasry recruited his sister Sonia Gardner, also an attorney, to assist in the company's trade claims department. 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. 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. 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.

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. On January 12, 2013 when the reorganizing of Trump Entertainment made marked progress, Lasry resigned as the casino company's chairman of the board.

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

In April 2014, Lasry became co-owner of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks after purchasing the team from Herb Kohl for $550 million. 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.

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

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,”

Philanthropy

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

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).

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. 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.

Personal life

Lasry is married to Cathy Cohen and they have five children. 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. Their daughter, Samantha, was a staffer for congressman Rahm Emanuel.

Lasry is a member of Kappa Beta Phi.

Lasry is a major Democratic Party donor while considering a Democratic sweep in election “bad for stocks”. 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.

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasry, Marc
1959 births
Living people
20th-century Moroccan Jews
People from Marrakesh
Businesspeople from New York City
American billionaires
American hedge fund managers
American people of Moroccan-Jewish descent
Moroccan emigrants to the United States
American Mizrahi Jews
American Sephardic Jews
Jewish American philanthropists
Private equity and venture capital investors
Clark University alumni
New York Law School alumni