William Brian Little (1942–2000), known as Brian Little, was one of the founding partners of

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 ...

, a

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

. He graduated from Colgate University in 1964, and he later served as the chairman of the board of trustees. An art building at Colgate was named Little Hall after him in 2001. Brian Little worked as a senior vice president at White Weld & Co. in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He briefly continued to work at the firm after it was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 1978, and in the same year founded Forstmann Little with brothers

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 ...

and Nick Forstmann. Little died in 2000 of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at the age of 58.

References

Little, William B. 1942 births 2000 deaths Colgate University alumni 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub