Theodore J. Forstmann
Theodore J. Forstmann, private equity pioneer and philanthropist who owned a home in Southampton, died from brain cancer on Sunday, November 20, at his home in Manhattan. He was 71.
The man who helped coined the phrase, “barbarians at the gate,” to describe the increase in buyout takeovers during the 1980s, was one of the first executives to use debt to acquire companies, revamp them and sell them for large amounts of money.
Mr. Forstmann was born on February 13, 1940, in Greenwich, Connecticut, as one of six children. With the money he earned from gambling on bridge, he put himself through Columbia Law School.
In 1978, he founded Forstmann Little & Company with his brother Nick, who predeceased him, and business partner Brian Little. The company used investors’ money to help fund its acquisitions, taking 20 percent of the profits. For the next three decades, Mr. Forstmann acquired big companies such as Gulfstream Aerospace, Dr. Pepper, General Instrument and Topps Playing Cards. According to a statement by Forstmann Little & Company, the firm made 31 acquisitions and significant investments and returned more than $15 billion to its investors over the last 33 years.
Mr. Forstmann is well-known in the Southampton community for hosting the Huggy Bear charity tennis tournament” at his summer home every year for 25 years. He helped raise more than $20 million for children’s charities by inviting tennis professionals to play against amateur donors.
He was very involved in a number of children’s charities and adopted two sons from South Africa, Siya and Everest, who lived with him in New York.
In addition to his sons, he is survived by siblings, J. Anthony Forstmann and John Forstmann, Marina Forstmann Day and Elissa Forstmann Moran.
on Dec 6, 2011