Leslie Alexander
$1.9 B
Leslie Alexander is a true self-made billionaire. He dropped out of Brooklyn Law School at age 21 after his father died and headed to Wall Street to help provide for his mother. He found he was pretty good at investing, and after finishing his law degree he went back to trading bonds — this time for himself. In 1993, he shelled out $85 million to buy the Houston Rockets. Good timing: Hakeem Olajuwon led the team to NBA titles in the next two seasons. Alexander first landed on the Forbes 400 in 2006 thanks to his stake in student loan securitizer First Marblehead, though the Rockets proved to be his best investment. First Marblehead’s stock price tanked in 2008 as the U.S. credit market collapsed, but the Rockets are now worth $1.5 billion, and Alexander owns 100%. In June 2016 First Marblehead was acquired by FP Resources for $5.05 per share, less than 1% of its 2006 peak price. Outside of business, Alexander is an animal lover; he funds a horse sanctuary in Middleburg,Virginia named after his mother, Evelyn.
Leslie Alexander Net Worth: Leslie Alexander is an American businessman who has a net worth of $2 billion. A former bond trader from New Jersey, Leslie Alexander earned his fortune by making investments in various companies. After he earned a Bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1965, he went on to earn his JD from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Alexander started his professional trading career by trading bonds for Lawrence Kotkin Associates, a Wall Street firm. After a while, he opted to form his own investment company, called The Alexander Group, in 1980. A decade later, he also invested in for-profit student-loan provider First Marblehead, where he still owns a 20% stake. In 1993, he bought the NBA’s team Houston Rockets for $85 million. The team won their first-ever NBA title in his first season as the owner. In 2017 the team was reportedly to be worth $1.6 billion. Leslie Alexander is also a vineyard owner and producer through a company called Leslie Wine which he launched in 2008.
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