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Bruce Wasserstein dies at 61; prominent Wall Street deal maker

Bruce Wasserstein, chief executive of investment bank Lazard Ltd. and a prominent Wall Street deal maker, died Wednesday after being hospitalized earlier this week with an irregular heartbeat, a company spokeswoman said. He was 61.

In a statement Wednesday, Lazard's board said the cause of death had not yet been determined. It didn't say where Wasserstein died.

Steven J. Golub, vice chairman of Lazard, was named interim chief executive, effective immediately, the statement said.

Golub, 63, has been with the company since 1984 and has served as chief financial officer and chairman of Lazard's Financial Advisory business.

A onetime corporate lawyer, Wasserstein rose to the top of the ranks of merger advisors during the 1980s and won a well-publicized battle with Michel David-Weill to take Lazard Freres & Co. public. He became chairman and chief executive in May 2005.
Read entire article at LA Times