Julius Anthony "Tony" Forstmann (May 22, 1938 - January 31, 2023) was an American financier. He is one of the founding partners of Forstmann-Leff & Associates, one of the first hedge funds in the United States, along with Joel B. Leff. He was an original investor in Forstmann Little and Company and he also founded Forstmann and Co., a merchant bank.

Career

Forstmann-Leff

Forstmann-Leff & Associates was founded in 1967 as a private incentive investment management organization by J. Anthony Forstmann and Joel B. Leff with the specific objective of managing money intensively for an above-average rate of return. They served as investment advisers to pension funds and were one of the original hedge funds in the US. By 1985 the firm had grown to $5 Billion under management. The firm's clients included

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

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...

of Indiana, The Pension Guarantee Corp. The Ford Family, Northrop,

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

Lockheed Lockheed (originally spelled Loughead) may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Lockheed Corporation, a former American aircraft manufacturer * Lockheed Martin, formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta ** Lockheed Mar ...

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airline ...

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper bra ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wi ...

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

Raychem The Raychem Corporation was founded in Redwood City, California, in 1957 by Paul M. Cook, James B. Meikle, and Richard W. Muchmore. Led by Cook and second-in-command Robert M. Halperin, Raychem became a pioneer of commercial products realized th ...

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers ...

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automot ...

, Commercial Credit,

Primerica Primerica, Inc. (NYSE: PRI) is a company that provides insurance, investment and financial services to middle income families in the United States and Canada. Primerica is the parent company of National Benefit Life Insurance Company, Prim ...

MCA Universal Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, the City of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the State of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, the State of

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

, the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the olde ...

, and the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the borough ...

. Forstmann-Leff & Associates achieved an average compounded yearly gain of 22 per cent on the investment partnerships. Forstmann-Leff "outperformed all of the firms monitored by Investment Manager Profiles in the Balanced Account category." Forstmann continued as managing director of Forstmann-Leff until 1991. Forstmann's brother

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 Depart ...

also worked at Forstmann-Leff as council until he left to found Forstmann Little & Co. with another brother Nick. Joel Leff and Tony Forstmann were part of the original investors of Forstmann Little & Co. "Forstmann-Leff Associates was one of the nation's most prosperous investment firms, with a consistent, long term performance record that is matched by few other managers" Forstmann was a founding partner and investor in Instinet, the first

electronic trading platform In finance, an electronic trading platform also known as an online trading platform, is a computer software program that can be used to place orders for financial products over a network with a financial intermediary. Various financial products ...

Forstmann Little & Co.

Forstmann was an original investor in

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 ...

in 1975 with his two brothers, Theodore J Forstmann (Ted) and Nicholas C Forstmann (Nick). At its peak, the company was one of the largest private equity firms globally and specialized in leveraged buyouts. He remained a special limited partner until his brother's passing.

Forstmann & Co.

In 1987 he founded Forstmann & Co to create a merchant banking platform. Prior to founding Forstmann-Leff & Associates, Forstmann held various positions within the investment banking firms of G. H. Walker & Co, Wertheim, and Smith Barney & Co.

Director

Biography

Forstmann was born on May 22, 1938, in Manhattan to Dorothy (née Mercadante) and Julius Forstmann, who were of Italian and German descent, respectively. He was the firstborn of six children and raised in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

. His father had inherited Forstmann Woolen Co., from his grandfather, who was one of the richest men in the world at the time. Forstmann graduated from

Greenwich Country Day School The Greenwich Country Day School is a co-educational, independent day school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States, founded in 1926. As of 2019, it enrolled some 1190 students from nursery to 12th grade level. In November 2017, Greenwich Coun ...

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = M ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one of the oldest busin ...

. Forstmann has six children; William Anthony Forstmann, Candida Anthony, Christina Giammalva, Baron Forstmann, Luke Forstmann, Kelly Forstmann. He is married to Cathie Shirriff Forstmann. Forstmann is currently on the Leadership Council of the

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. It is consistently rated among the best schools of public health in the co ...

. In 1985, Forstmann started The Huggy Bear tennis tournament in Southampton, NY which evolved over 22 years into a major fund raising event for children's charities. Forstmann's brothers

and Nick joined forces in 1989 and the tournament ran for 22 years, raising millions of dollars for children globally. He died on January 31, 2023, at age 84 from natural causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forstmann, Julius A. 1940 births American chief executives of financial services companies American financiers Philanthropists from New York (state) Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut Businesspeople from Manhattan Private equity and venture capital investors Columbia Business School alumni Yale University alumni Living people Phillips Academy alumni