Marc Lasry Net Worth

What is Marc Lasry's Net Worth?

Marc Lasry is a Moroccan-American billionaire hedge fund manager who has a net worth of $2 billion. Marc Lasry co-founded and serves as the CEO of Avenue Capital Group. Previously, from 2014 to 2023, he was a co-owner of the NBA team the Milwaukee Bucks. Lasry has also been involved in philanthropy, and served as a director of the 92nd Street Y and the Big Apple Circus in New York City.

Milwaukee Bucks

In 2014, Marc and fellow hedge fund manager Wes Edens led a group in buying the Milwaukee Bucks for $550 million. In 2023, they sold the team to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion. Lasry owns a 25% stake in the team, which means he'd walk away with about $875 million, or more than six times his return on investment.

Early Life and Education

Marc Lasry was born on September 23, 1959 in Marrakesh, Morocco to Jewish parents Elise and Moise. His mother was a schoolteacher, and his father was a computer programmer. Prior to the advent of the Six-Day War in 1967, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in West Hartford, Connecticut. For his higher education, Lasry went to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1981. He went on to attend New York Law School, from which he obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1984.

Career Beginnings

While attending law school, Lasry worked as a clerk for Edward Ryan, the chief bankruptcy judge of the Southern District of New York. After he graduated, he worked in the bankruptcy branch of the law firm Angel & Frankel.

Amroc Investments and Avenue Capital Group

In 1989, with $100 million in seed money, Lasry and his sister Sonia co-founded the firm Amroc Investments in association with the Robert M. Bass Group. The firm bought both trade claims and bank debt held by vendors of financially distressed or bankrupt companies. In 1995, Lasry and his sister invested $7 million of their own money to co-found the firm Avenue Capital Group, which originally specialized in distressed securities in the United States. Over the years, the firm expanded to Europe and Asia while working as both a private equity firm and a hedge fund. In addition to distressed debt and equity securities, Avenue Capital Group manages investment funds relating to real estate and collateralized debt obligations. In 2006, Morgan Stanley acquired a 15% stake in the firm.

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Other Business Ventures

In the 1990s, Lasry served as the director of the private debt department at the investment firm R. D. Smith. He subsequently became co-director of the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization department at Cowen & Company. After he left that position, Lasry joined the Robert M. Bass Group.

In 2010, Lasry took over Trump Entertainment Resorts as it was going through its third bankruptcy. He left the company in early 2013 amid its reorganization. The following year, Lasry became a co-owner of the NBA team the Milwaukee Bucks, having purchased the team for $550 million with Wes Edens. He remained a co-owner until 2023, when he sold his stake to Dee and Jimmy Haslam.

Among his other business ventures, Lasry briefly served as the chair of the media and entertainment company Ozy Media amid its fraud scandal in 2021. Elsewhere, he is the largest shareholder of Amplify Energy.

Philanthropy

Lasry has been significantly involved in philanthropic endeavors. Between 2004 and 2005, he and his wife donated to the University of Pennsylvania and their shared alma mater Clark University. At the latter, they established a new center for bioscience. Lasry also served as a director of the 92nd Street Y and the Big Apple Circus in New York City, and was a trustee of Mount Sinai Hospital. In early 2016, he participated in the Portfolios with Purpose contest, in which he selected stock portfolios on behalf of his chosen charities.

After selling his stake in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks in 2023, Lasry established a women's sports investment fund called the Avenue Sports Fund. Among its activities, the Fund invests in the Bay Golf Club of the TGL golf league.

Personal Life

With his wife Cathy Cohen, Lasry has five children. Among them are Alex, who worked for White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and ran for the US Senate in 2022; and Samantha, who worked as a staffer for congressman Rahm Emanuel.

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