Success Story: Bruce Wasserstein: Former Cravath Lawyer Sells The American Lawyer for $635 Million

Bruce Wasserstein is a former lawyer who has really hit it big. Currently chairman of investment bank Lazard Ltd., Wasserstein recently agreed to sell American Lawyer magazine and the rest of his legal and real estate publishing business to Incisive Media of the U.K. for $630 million. He and his partners had originally paid $263 million for these businesses in 1997.

According to Wikipedia, Wasserstein attended Harvard Law School, and then toiled at Cravath before rising to leadership of First Boston Corp.'s dominant merger and acquisition practice. He eventually formed investment bank boutique Wasserstein Perella & Co., which he sold in 2000, at the top of the 1990s bull market, to Germany's Dresdner Bank for $1.5 billion.

In 2005, Wasserstein completed the initial public offering of Lazard after getting into a corporate fight with Chairman Michel David-Weill.

Harvard Law School has benefitted from Wasserstein's largesse - the large academic wing of the school's new Northwest Corner complex will be named Wasserstein Hall, in recognition of a recent bequest.

See the full Wikipedia entry here.