Wasserstein was born and raised in Midwood, Brooklyn, New York, the son of Lola (née Schleifer) and Morris Wasserstein.[4] His father, a Jewish immigrant from pre-World War II Poland, emigrated to New York City and started a ribbon company.[5] His maternal grandfather was Simon Schleifer, a Jewish teacher in the yeshivainWloclawek, Poland who later emigrated to Paterson, New Jersey and became a Hebrew school principal.[6]
Wasserstein had four siblings: businesswoman Sandra Wasserstein Meyer; Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein (whose daughter, Lucy Jane, he was raising at the time of his death); Abner Wasserstein (died 2011); and Georgette Levis (died 2014), who was married to psychiatrist Albert J. Levis.[7][8][9]
In 2007, Wasserstein made a $25 million donation[17]toHarvard Law School, for the creation of a large academic wing of the school's Northwest Corner complex, which was named Wasserstein Hall.
According to Forbes, as of September 17, 2008, Wasserstein's net worth was estimated to be $2.3 billion.[18]
As of 2008, he owned an apartment at 927 Fifth Avenue in New York City, an estate in Santa Barbara in California, an Atlantic oceanfront estate in East Hampton (Long Island), a house at 38 Belgrave Square in London, and another apartment in Paris.[19]
Claude Becker (married 1996, divorced 2008). They had two sons: Jack and Dash.[7] Prior to her marriage to Wasserstein, Claude was an Emmy Award-winning CBS news producer. After Bruce's death Claude took in Lucy, his sister Wendy's daughter.[21]
Wasserstein's political position was liberal. He was involved with media since high school and college, when he was an editor on his high school newspaper, The McBurneianBruce Wasserstein’s Westport Connection - WestportNow.com - Westport, Connecticut, (McBurney School, New York), and later at the University of MichiganMichigan Daily, then served an internship at Forbes magazine. Inspired by Ralph Nader, he was one of "Nader's Raiders" for a brief length of time. Rahm Emanuel and Vernon Jordan were employed by Wasserstein for a few years.[22] Wasserstein also served as trustee for the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism from 2001 until his death.
On October 11, 2009, Wasserstein was admitted to a hospital with an irregular heartbeat. It was originally reported that his condition was serious, but that he was stable and recovering.[23] However, Wasserstein died in Manhattan three days later, on October 14, at the age of 61.[24]
^Claims that Schleifer was a prominent playwright are most likely apocryphal, as this profession was only added to his résumé after Wendy Wasserstein, Bruce's sister, won the Pulitzer Prize– for Drama in 1989, according to Salamon, Julie (2011). Wendy and the Lost Boys. New York: Penguin Press ISBN978-1-59420-298-8
^Teitelman, Robert: [3]Time magazine, November 2, 2009, "Bruce Wasserstein"
^Berman, Jeffrey McCracken and Dennis K. (October 13, 2009). "Lazard's Wasserstein Hospitalized". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2020 – via www.wsj.com.
