Business

Financier Theodore Forstmann dies

Posted November 23, 2011 4:08 am

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Theodore J. Forstmann, a longtime financier who counted the iconic baseball card company Topps and business jet company Gulfstream Aerospace among his buyouts, died Sunday at the age of 71.

The cause was brain cancer, according to a statement from sports agency IMG. Forstmann was the chairman and CEO of IMG and was the senior founding partner of the investment firm Forstmann Little & Co. Forstmann Little bought IMG in 2004.

Forstmann Little, which was founded in 1978, also completed leveraged buyouts of companies including the cable TV technology company General Instrument, Yankee Candle, beverage company Dr. Pepper and Community Health Systems. Overall, the investment firm said, Forstmann made 31 acquisitions and returned more than $15 billion to investors over the last 33 years.

Forstmann was also a philanthropist with a focus on helping disadvantaged children throughout the world. He co-founded the Children’s Scholarship Fund.

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