Warren Hellman is the Chairman and co-founder of San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman, LLC, a private equity investment firm. Since he founded the company in 1984, Mr. Hellman has grown Hellman & Friedman into one of the top 100 private equity funds in the country. Hellman & Friedman has raised and managed more than $5 billion in capital and invested in over 45 job-creating companies. Hellman is currently a director of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., in which Hellman & Friedman is a 10% investor. Previously, he was a general partner of Hellman, Ferri Investment Associates, Matrix Management Company and Lehman Brothers. At Lehman Brothers, he served as president and chairman of Lehman Corporation. He is a board member of the San Francisco Committee on Jobs and SFSOS; a trustee of The San Francisco Foundation; and a member of the University of California Walter A. Haas School of Business Advisory Board. A native of New York City, Hellman is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the Harvard Business School.
 

财经杂志约写一篇关于沃伦海尔曼的传记文章，才留意到，这位传奇人物已经上月过失了。在网上找了一些关于他的报道：

Goodbye to Warren Hellman

Warren Hellman, one of the most influential private equity investors of all time, has passed away at age 77 from complications associated with leukemia.

As many of you likely know, Hellman co-founded San Francisco-based buyout shop Hellman & Friedman in 1984. Not only is it one of the very few large private equity firms based on the West Coast, but also was one of the first to focus on sectors like tech and media, rather than manufacturing and retail.

He had previously co-founded the venture capital firm that would become Matrix Partners, after having become the youngest partner in the history of Lehman Brothers.

While Hellman was at Matrix, the firm's deals included Apple, Continental Cable (now Comcast) and Apollo Computer. At Hellman & Friedman, he participated in such transactions as Nasdaq, Levi Strauss and Young & Rubicam. He also was considered the public face of the firm, which has raised over $25 billion in fund capital and is generally considered one of the industry's most consistent performers.

"Warren Hellman was not only a pioneer and a leader in the private equity industry, he was an incredibly generous individual committed to bettering the lives of people through his many civic and philanthropic endeavors," says Steve Judge, interim CEO of the Private Equity Growth Capital Council. "His remarkable track record of building, growing and strengthening businesses will be the hallmark of his professional life, but his dedication to his family, friends, the city of San Francisco and the many he helped along the way will be his lasting legacy."

Hellman was active in Jewish causes in San Francisco. But his appearance at Sherith Israel was notable  because this wasn't his temple. Years ago, Hellman's family helped found Temple Emmanuel, the richer, neighboring rival to Sherith Israel. Hellman joked about this, and also his late-in-life interest in the religious aspects of Judaism.

I took my then four-year-old daughter to see the concert/sabbath service. I think she enjoyed the music, and I know she enjoyed the festive nature of the event. I'm certain that there were many in the packed sanctuary who came in part to see the spectacle of Warren Hellman's band playing at a synagogue. The big showing was a financial shot in the arm to Sherith Israel, and it was just like Hellman to lend his time to a group that needed him.

In May, I walked across the street from my office in San Francisco to interview Hellman in his office. I had become intrigued in the high-octane support for competing pension-reform plans then being proposed in the city. One, led by the city's public defender, was backed by billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz. The other cobbled together a coalition of city unions and public officials, led by interim Mayor Ed Lee and supported by Hellman.

Hellman had spent hours cajoling the contentious parties within what is called the "San Francisco family" to reach consensus. He was trying to be helpful. He also was grateful to city agencies, such as the police and fire fighters, who had assisted his beloved music festival.

My time with Hellman that spring day was memorable. As a founder of Bay Citizen, a newfangled, non-profit approach to local journalism, he was as interested in talking about the future of the media as he was about pension reform. Surrounded by his many banjos, he wanted to know my thoughts about journalism. He was also grumpy. He told me about a horrible row he'd had with the members of his band, some of whom are professional musicians, when he found out they had rehearsed without him. Hellman was universally praised as a kind man, but I would not wanted to have been one of his band members when he learned he'd been left out.  (He said he had worked things out more than satisfactorily, but I could tell he was still genuinely angry.)

Hellman didn't have to help the city. (The proposal he backed was approved by voters in the November election.) He didn't have to help Sherith Israel. He didn't even have to help Fortune Magazine. For the article I published in June, he gamely traveled to a photo studio to pose with Tom O'Connor, head of the fire fighters' union. (The photo is a classic: The pugnacious civic leader and the pugnacious union chief, sticking to their guns.) He helped because he felt he owed the city and the many other institutions and communities that had given so much to him. I also suspect that gigging in a temple, arm-twisting union heads and bureaucrats, and sitting for a photo shoot in a national magazine also struck Hellman as a helluva lot of fun. He obviously enjoyed having fun.

Just the other day I was meeting with someone who had an idea related to community journalism and is looking for potential supporters. I suggested he go see  Hellman. "I hear Warren is sick," he responded. I only very recently had heard this too, though until the San Francisco Chronicle reported it the other day I had no idea how sick. I have no doubt Hellman would have at least heard this guy out had he been well.

That same day, in front of packed audience at the Commonwealth Club of Northern California,  I tried to draw out Walter Isaacson about the conundrum of the legacy of Steve Jobs, I asked: Can we admire a man whose behavior was so often so bad?  (Isaacson argued forcefully that Jobs's accomplishments outweighed his vices.)

In Warren Hellman we are reminded that those of outsized achievements can be mensches as well. From Wall Street to Golden Gate Park, the world has lost a special person.

 海尔曼最后服务的海尔曼-弗里德曼合伙企业的纪念文章：

 

The partners at Hellman & Friedman announce with great sadness today the passing of our Founder Warren Hellman, 77, due to complications associated with leukemia.

"Warren was a great mentor, partner and friend, and above all, a great man," said Brian Powers, Chairman of Hellman & Friedman. "He will be deeply missed. His commitment to civic and philanthropic activities and his extraordinary generosity to the many causes he supported will have a lasting impact on our community."

"We have been blessed with an amazing founder. Warren has been an inspiration to all of us and set the standard by which we strive to live our personal and professional lives," said Philip Hammarskjold, Chief Executive Officer. "Warren taught us not only to be better investors, but to be better people. He always set his own course and did things in his own way. He wanted to build an investment firm dedicated to serving its limited partners and the businesses in which we invest. We have all benefited greatly from his vision, generosity and leadership."

Mick Hellman, one of Warren's four children said on behalf of his family, "Dad believed in people and their power to accomplish incredible things. In that vein, he helped start several really successful businesses over the years, and he considered Hellman & Friedman his highest professional achievement. He was an incredible problem-solver, and was great at bringing groups together that had naturally opposing interests and nudging them to a solution. He was particularly passionate about the people of San Francisco, and succeeded at projects that seemed like lost causes: fundraising for an underground parking garage in Golden Gate Park and building a consensus for pension reform in San Francisco. But he always pushed himself the hardest. His learning to play the banjo is a great example of Dad's determination and ability to find joy in confronting a challenge and overcoming it. He actually became a pretty good banjo player, and it was always really cool to walk into a limited partners meeting at Hellman & Friedman and hear his band performing."

Emmylou Harris, 12-time Grammy winner said, "I first met Warren through our mutual love of bluegrass music and came to realize over the years what a special person he was. He gave so much of himself to so many and we are all the richer for it. I’m blessed to have known him and call him my friend."

Mr. Hellman was a pioneer in the private equity business. After a distinguished career on Wall Street, he co-founded Hellman & Friedman in 1984 with Tully Friedman, and built it into one of the industry’s leading private equity firms. Since its inception, the firm has raised over $25 billion of committed capital and has generated some of the industry’s most outstanding investment results. Mr. Hellman was critical in many of the firms investments, including Levi Strauss & Company, VoiceStream Wireless, Young & Rubicam, Eller Media and The NASDAQ Stock Market.

Mr. Hellman joined Lehman Brothers in 1959 after graduating from Harvard Business School, and went on to become, at age 26, the youngest partner in the firm’s history. From 1962 to 1977 he served in various capacities at the firm culminating in becoming its President in 1973 at age 39. In 1977, he left Lehman and moved to Boston to cofound one of the early firms in the venture capital industry which subsequently became Matrix Partners and remains a leading venture firm today. During his tenure, Matrix was an early investor in such notable start-ups as Apollo Computer, Stratus Computer, Continental Cable (now Comcast), and Apple Computer. Also in Boston, Mr. Hellman co-founded Hellman, Jordan Management Company, a specialty equity investment manager.

Mr. Hellman was a noted philanthropist with strong roots in a wide variety of local causes. He was an active participant within the community and gave generously of his time and experience to make a difference. His extraordinary generosity touched the lives of many. Mr. Hellman served as a past Chairman and Trustee Emeritus of The San Francisco Foundation and was a well-known contributor to St. Anthony’s Foundation, Golden Gate Park and the San Francisco Free Clinic, which was founded by his daughter and son-in-law, Drs. Tricia and Richard Gibbs. He was an avid proponent of public education and was a proud public school graduate himself. When he was Chair of the San Francisco Foundation, he convened the San Francisco School Alliance bringing the business community and funders to support and partner with the San Francisco Unified School District. He served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Walter A. Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Trustee of the UC Berkeley Foundation. Mr. Hellman was also a contributor to the UC Berkeley aquatics program where he helped endow the Men’s Water Polo Program, and instituted the Hellman Fellows Program at the University of California. In addition to serving the community at large, Mr. Hellman was also a member of the Board of Directors & Executive Committee for the Jewish Community Federation and Chair of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. He was Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Bay Citizen, a non-profit local news organization, and a Trustee Emeritus of the Brookings Institution.

Mr. Hellman had a deep love of music, none more than bluegrass, the appreciation of which he always said was "hard-wired". Later in his life, he became an accomplished 5- string banjo player, and had an old-time band called The Wronglers with whom he performed all over the U.S. The Wronglers collaborated with country singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore this year and released the CD "Heirloom Music"; in June, they made a guest appearance on A Prairie Home Companion. Mr. Hellman was the Founder and principal sponsor of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco—an annual three-day, free music festival which brings together over 90 leading and emerging music groups and draws over 750,000 attendees each year. Speedway Meadow, the site of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, was recently renamed "Hellman’s Hollow" in honor of Mr. Hellman. In 2005, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Hellman and his wife Chris, a former dancer, were generous supporters of the arts, including the San Francisco Ballet, where Chris chaired the Board for many years and helped make the San Francisco Ballet one of the leading ballet companies in the world today. Mr. Hellman also supported San Francisco’s ODC contemporary dance company and served as Chairman of Voice of Dance.

Mr. Hellman played an active role in civic affairs in San Francisco and California. Dedicated to the well-being of San Francisco citizens, he served as a board member of the Committee on JOBS, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and Bay Area Council. Most recently, he was a pivotal member in organizing support behind Proposition C, legislation aimed at reforming San Francisco’s pension system. He fostered collaborative efforts among the various constituencies to reach a joint solution. He was not afraid of political controversy, however, and led and provided financial leadership to the critical and successful effort to build an underground parking structure in Golden Gate Park, helping to keep the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum in their historic locations.

Mr. Hellman was also an accomplished endurance athlete and skier. He twice completed the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile foot race from Squaw Valley to Auburn, CA, and five times completed the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile horse race over the same course. He was also a five-time National Champion in Ride and Tie (combination of cross-country running and endurance horseback riding) in his age group and a varsity athlete in Water Polo at UC Berkeley. He was an avid skier throughout his life and was an accomplished national caliber master ski racer. He co-founded the Stratton Mountain School, a Vermont-based winter sports academy in 1972 and went on to serve as president of the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1970’s. He was a board member of the Sugar Bowl ski resort in Lake Tahoe, CA and is credited with helping to revitalize the resort and support the building of its world class ski racing academy. An avid runner his whole life, Mr. Hellman clocked several miles every day during his very early morning San Francisco neighborhood runs.

Mr. Hellman was born in New York City in 1934 and grew up in Vacaville and San Francisco, CA. He was the son of the late Marco and Ruth Hellman and the greatgrandson of Isaias W. Hellman, the president of Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank. Mr. Hellman was a graduate of Lowell High School in San Francisco, the University of California at Berkeley (1955) and Harvard Business School (1959). He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957. Mr. Hellman was a loving husband and a devoted family man. He is survived by Chris, his wife of 56 years, his sister Nancy Bechtle, his four children Frances, Tricia, Mick and Judith, 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild. He was very proud of his children and all that they have accomplished. Frances Hellman is Chair of the Physics Department at UC Berkeley, Tricia Gibbs, MD is cofounder of The San Francisco Free Clinic, Mick Hellman is Founder and Managing Partner of HMI Capital and a Senior Advisor of Hellman & Friedman, and Judith Hellman, MD is an Associate Professor at UCSF.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the San Francisco Free Clinic, The Bay Citizen and the San Francisco School Alliance. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.