Thomas H. Lee, the billionaire financier who suddenly took his own life last week, was mourned Monday as both a financial genius and a humble family man.
High-profile attendees, including the Clintons and Dr. Oz, rubbed elbows with former associates and grieving relatives at funeral services at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall for the man once known as the “envy of Wall Street.”
His widow, Ann Tenenbaum, shared a somber thought through Lee’s brother-in-law during the service.
“Ann wanted to share this with you,” David Bensinger said. “Let us all remember the 79 amazing years of Tom’s life and not let all that be obscured by one bad moment at the end.”
Lee’s brother, meanwhile, called the dead man “my rock and my pillar” — while noting even the family may never know why he decided to take his own life.
“As we all know, Tom left us too early and we will never have an answer,” Jon Lee said. “There’s a lot about each other we don’t know. We want everybody to think everything is okay all the time.
“We owe it to Tom and we owe it to ourselves to talk to each other and not to hide behind walls,” Lee continued. “So, Tom, you were the master of the universe. In your own quirky way, I know you’re at peace.”
Lee, 78, was found dead of a single gunshot wound to the head inside the bathroom of his family office on Thursday, with the city medical examiner ruling his death a suicide.
A married father of five and grandfather of two, Lee was a financial titan who was once dubbed the “envy of Wall Street” for his business savvy — and powerful friends.
“Tom was a constant presence,” said Hillary Clinton, a longtime Lee pal who was joined by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, at the funeral.
“We’ve shared births and weddings and anniversaries, state dinners at the White House, lively parties from New York City to Martha’s Vineyard to the Hamptons during good times and tough ones,” she told mourners.
“We’re here expressing our gratitude for years as friends, as colleagues and certainly as family members for his long, successful life.”
Dr. Mehmet Oz, speaking to The Post outside Lincoln Center, called the funeral service “one of the most elegant and beautiful events,” and described it as “an outpouring of love” for Lee.
Lee was a Harvard grad who went on to become the king of lucrative leveraged buyouts.
At the height of his career, Lee invested $30 million to buy soft drink giant Snapple in 1992 — and flipped it just two years later by selling it to Quaker Oats for $1.7 billion.
In 1996, he teamed with Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital to buy credit reporting company TRW for $1.1 billion in a leveraged buyout and sold it for $1.7 billion just seven weeks later.
A close pal of the Clintons — who were frequent guests at his Hamptons mansion — Lee was also known for his art collection and his philanthropic endeavors.
“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, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own,” Lee family friend and spokesman Michael Sitrick said in a statement last week.
Authorities have not revealed why Lee took his own life.
According to a source who knew Lee well, the billionaire lost about 60 pounds in the last nine months, telling people he had been on a crash diet.
“He went from one extreme to another,” the source said.
Lee was also a major political contributor whose massive mansion in the trendy Hamptons famously provided a sanctuary for the Clintons after a bruising 2008 presidential primary.
“I was exhausted and disappointed and the first people who said, ‘Hey, come be with us’ were Tom and Ann,” Hillary Clinton said Monday. “We got away from it all at their beautiful home in the Hamptons.
“It was a perfect place to escape, sleep, eat well and be in good company,” she said.
She described Lee as “a dedicated supporter” who “would demonstrate his partisan, even rabid political beliefs without much urging.”
https://nypost.com/2023/02/27/billionaire-thomas-h-lee-mourned-at-nyc-funeral-following-suicide/
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