Antony P. Ressler (born October 12, 1960) is an American businessman. He co-founded the

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American asset management firm that primarily invests in alternative assets. , the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capita ...

in 1990, and Ares Management in 1997. Ressler is also owner of the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

basketball team, acquiring them in 2015. He is married to actress Jami Gertz. His net worth was estimated at $11.3 billion in 2024.

Biography

Ressler was born in Washington D.C. on October 12, 1960, to a Jewish family,Jewish Journal: "It's Always Gilda - Actress Jami Gertz wants to do justice to the memory of the late SNL comedienne" By Naomi Pfefferman
April 25, 2002 one of five children of Dorothy and Ira Ressler.
October 29, 2000 His father was an attorney and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran. Ressler earned a BSFS from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Walsh School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It grants degrees at both Undergraduate education, undergraduate and Postgraduate education, graduate lev ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

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

.Ares Management website: "Tony Ressler - Senior Partner
retrieved August 20, 2013 After graduating, he worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert, eventually reaching senior vice president in the high yield bond department with responsibility for the new issue/syndicate desk. In 1990, on the heels of the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert, he co-founded the private equity firm

with Leon Black, Drexel's managing director, head of the Mergers & Acquisitions Group, and co-head of the Corporate Finance Department; John Hannan, Drexel's former co-director of international finance; Craig Cogut, a lawyer who worked with Drexel's high-yield division in Los Angeles; Arthur Bilger, the former head of the Drexel's corporate finance department; and Marc Rowan, Josh Harris and Michael Gross, all of whom worked under Black in the mergers and acquisitions department.Ex-Drexel Executives Arrange Aid for Fruit of the Loom
August 24, 1990 In 1997, he co-founded Ares Management with former Apollo Global Management co-worker John H. Kissick and Bennett Rosenthal, who joined the group from the global leveraged finance group at

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

.Ares Management to Take New Fund Public
Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2004 Ressler is a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of the

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

; finance chair and member of the executive committee of the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

; a board member of Campbell Hall Episcopal School in Studio City, California; and one of the founding members of the board and finance chair of the Painted Turtle Camp, an organization that takes children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses on camping trips. Ressler is a supporter of military veterans through the work of The Greatest Generations Foundation.

Sports

In 2005, he belonged to an investment group led by

Mark Attanasio Mark L. Attanasio (born September 29, 1957) is an American businessman who is currently the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team and the majority shareholder of English football club Norwich City FC. As of 2023, he is worth an ...

that acquired

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. In June 2015, he led a group that acquired the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball team for US$730 million. It was ultimately sold to him for $850 million. Minority investors included

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a part-owner of Orlando City SC of Major League ...

, Sara Blakely, Jesse Itzler, Steven Price, and Rick Schnall.

Personal life

On June 16, 1989, he married actress Jami Gertz. They live in Los Angeles, and have three sons. Gertz-Ressler High Academy, a member of Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, is named after the couple. They are members of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Ressler's sister, Broadway producer Debra Ressler, is married to Apollo co-founder Leon Black. His brother, Richard Ressler, is a principal and founder of CIM Investment management.Huffington Post: "Tony and Richard Ressler"
retrieved August 20, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ressler, Tony 1960 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews American billionaires American chief executives American financiers American hedge fund managers American investment bankers American money managers American philanthropists Apollo Global Management people Atlanta Hawks owners Columbia Business School alumni Drexel Burnham Lambert Jewish American baseball people Jewish American basketball people Jewish American sports executives and administrators Jews from California Living people Milwaukee Brewers owners Place of birth missing (living people) Private equity and venture capital investors Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni