C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

. Founded as C.E. Unterberg & Co. in 1932 by Clarence E. Unterberg, the firm changed its name to C.E Unterberg, Towbin & Co., in 1953.

History

The firm began as a niche

over-the-counter Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid prescr ...

trading firm. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the firm made a name for itself as an investment banker for the technology oriented companies of the period. Following its merger with

L.F. Rothschild L.F. Rothschild (later known as L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin) was a merchant and investment banking firm based in the United States and founded in 1899. The firm collapsed following the 1987 stock market crash. History L.F. Rothschild ...

in 1977, the firm was known as L. F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin and was led primarily by Thomas I. Unterberg and A. Robert Towbin. The firm was known for its merchant banking investments, particularly in high-technology companies. In the early 1980s, the firm emerged as the leading underwriter of

initial public offerings An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

, surpassing the elite investment banks (at the time, including

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

, and

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

). Among the companies they took public were

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

Cray Research Cray Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is an American supercomputer manufacturer headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It also manufactures systems for data storage and analytics. Several Cray supercomputer systems are listed i ...

, and biotechnology company

Cetus Corporation Cetus Corporation was one of the first biotechnology companies. It was established in Berkeley, California, in 1971, but conducted most of its operations in nearby Emeryville. Before merging with Chiron Corporation in 1991 (now a part of Novarti ...

.McGeehan, Patrick.
Private Sector; Banker's Novel Late-Career Move
" ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', November 11, 2001 Following the 1986 departure of Tom Unterberg and Bob Towbin for

, the firm became known as L.F. Rothschild until it filed

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

in 1989. Subsequently, in 1990, Tom Unterberg started a new firm with investment banker Bob Harris, formerly of Alex. Brown & Sons, called Unterberg Harris. The firm focused on raising capital for growth companies, with a focus in the technology, healthcare and global security sectors. In 1995, Towbin joined the firm and in 1997, Bob Harris left for

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The compa ...

, so the company took on the C.E. Unterberg, Towbin name once again. After January 2002,

John Gutfreund John Halle Gutfreund (14 September 1929 – 9 March 2016) was an American banker, businessman, and investor. He was the CEO of Salomon Brothers Inc, an investment bank that gained prominence in the 1980s. Gutfreund turned Salomon Brothers from ...

, a former CEO of

Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and the most profitable firm on Wall Street duri ...

became senior managing director of the bank. On July 16, 2007, the firm was acquired by UK-based investment bank Collins Stewart, and assumed that firm's name.

Notable alumni

James Satloff James Satloff (born 1962) is an American businessman. He founded Liberty Skis and served as the CEO of C.E. Unterberg, Towbin. Education James Satloff has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Columbia College, where he majored ...

, former CEO of the firm; founder of

Liberty Skis Liberty Skis Corporation is one of the ski industry's largest independent ski manufacturers, and a leader in the manufacture of carving, touring, powder, and twin-tip skis, used primarily for a style of skiing known alternately as newschool skiing ...

References

Banks based in New York City Defunct financial services companies of the United States Former investment banks of the United States Financial services companies established in 1932 Banks established in 1932 Financial services companies disestablished in 2007 Banks disestablished in 2007 Defunct companies based in New York (state) 1932 establishments in New York (state) 2007 disestablishments in New York (state) {{US-bank-stub