Hillary Clinton remembers the billionaire who shot herself as ‘considerate, generous and unassuming’
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Former first lady Hillary Clinton paid tribute to billionaire financier Thomas H. Lee at her memorial in Manhattan, calling him a “constant presence” in her life.
Her husband and former President Bill Clinton also attended the service at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts on Monday morning.
Lee, once known as the “envy of Wall Street,” committed suicide inside the bathroom of his family’s Fifth Avenue office Thursday, and the city medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
Speaking at the funeral, Hillary said: Tom was a constant presence. We’ve shared births, weddings and anniversaries, state dinners at the White House, spirited parties from New York City to Martha’s Vineyard to the Hamptons through good times and bad.
He would tell you about an interesting person he just met and he needed to introduce you.
Former first lady Hillary Clinton paid tribute to billionaire financier Thomas H. Lee at his memorial in Manhattan with her husband BIll. Pictured: The Clintons in 2017
Billionaire financier and investor Thomas H. Lee, 78, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last Thursday.
He would show you the latest book he was reading and sometimes put it in your hands. She shared the latest joke about her sometimes not always cleaning up for company.
‘And he would encourage you to eat non-stop. Considerate, caring, generous and unpretentious.
Bill told me yesterday that he never had an uninteresting conversation with Tom Lee.
“We are here to express our gratitude for years as friends, as colleagues and certainly as family members for his long and successful life.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz was among the mourners who attended the service, with many wondering why he would have ended his life the way he did.
His widow, Ann Tenenbaum, shared a somber thought through Lee’s brother-in-law during the service, saying: “Let’s look back on all the amazing years of Tom’s life and not let it all be overshadowed by one bad moment at the end.”
His brother, Jon Lee, told mourners that Tom was “his rock and his pillar”, adding that the family may never know why he chose to end his own life.
Jon said: ‘As we all know Tom left us too soon and we will never have an answer.
Lee is shown golfing with then-President Bill Clinton on Martha’s Vineyard in 1999, which was mentioned as a place where the couple spent time with the late financier.
Thomas H. Lee, 78, pictured here with his wife Ann Tenenbaum in 2019, was described by the former first lady as “considerate, caring, generous and unpretentious.”
New York police responded to 767 Fifth Avenue, where Thomas H. Lee Capital, LLC is located on the sixth floor, around 11:10 a.m. and found Lee’s body, it was reported.
There’s a lot about each other that we don’t know. We want everyone to think that everything is fine all the time.
“We owe it to Tom and we owe it to ourselves to talk to each other and not hide behind walls.
‘So, Tom, you were the master of the universe. In your peculiar way, I know you’re at peace.
A married father of five and grandfather of two, Lee was a financial titan who made powerful friends after attending Harvard.
The Harvard grad had a net worth of approximately $2 billion at the time of his death, according to Forbes.
According to the New York Post, sources revealed that Lee’s assistant made the shocking discovery after she went looking for him when his associates were unable to contact him.
First responders found Lee lying on his side with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and he was pronounced dead at 11:26 a.m. when lifesaving efforts by paramedics were unsuccessful.
The financier rose to fame by acquiring mid-sized companies, restoring their value, and then selling them off for massive profits.
Best known for the $1.7 billion sale of Snapple in 1992, Lee, left, made his name on Wall Street as a prominent Manhattan financier during a lucrative career.
Lee with former NBC host Matt Lauer and socialite Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo in 2005
He later transitioned into banking, working for First National Bank of Boston, where he rose to the position of vice president and led the bank’s high-tech lending group.
Nearly a decade into his finance career, he founded his firm Lee Equity in 1974. During this time, he was recognized as an early pioneer in private equity and specifically leveraged buyouts.
He was best known for selling Snapple for $1.7 billion in 1992, which he initially acquired for $135 million. After investing $28 million in the business, he grew the company’s revenue from $95 million to $750 million a year, before later selling it.
His leveraged buyout deals were legendary in the 1990s: pioneering financial transactions that enabled his company, in some cases, to produce profits of more than 30 times in a matter of years.
He reportedly went by the self-assigned nickname ‘Tomcat’, which he revealed at a 2014 event because he had ‘nine different lives’.
Lee was known for owning one of the most lucrative houses in East Hampton, New York.
Following the news of Lee’s suicide, family spokesman Michael Sitrick released a statement: “The family is extremely saddened by Tom’s death.
“While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend, and philanthropist who always put the needs of others first. yours.
‘Our hearts are broken. We ask that our privacy be respected and that we be allowed to grieve.”
A 1997 Forbes profile described him as “that weird thing on Wall Street, a really nice guy.”
Lee was married twice, first to Barbara Fish Lee, in 1968. They had two sons, Zach and Robbie, before divorcing in 1995.
He married his second wife Ann Tenenbaum of Savannah, Georgia in 1997 and they had three children: Jesse, Nathan, and Rosalie.