Marc J. Leder (born in 1962) is an American businessman who is a co-founder of Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Boca Raton, Florida. He is also a limited partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.
Early life and education
Leder was born to a Jewish family and raised in the Long Island suburbs of New York City. In 1979, Leder graduated from John L. Miller Great Neck North High School and in 1983, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Career
Leder started his career at Financo, LLC. In 1987, he joined Lehman Brothers as an analyst, and over the years he worked his way up to senior vice president. In 1995, he left Lehman with fellow Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni and friend Rodger Krouse to found Sun Capital Partners, Inc.
Sun Capital Partners
Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Leder and Krouse. It targets businesses with revenues of $50 million to $1.0 billion for platform investments, and any revenue size for add-ons to existing portfolio companies. Sun Capital focuses on several transaction types, including corporate carve-outs, founder-owned, and sponsor-to-sponsor. In 2009, it laid off 25% of its staff. In 2013, he garnered attention for using the US bankruptcy process to shed legacy pension liabilities.
In 2012, The New York Times wrote that to his critics Leder represented everything that’s wrong with the private equity business, noting that: "In recent years, a large number of the companies that Sun Capital has acquired have run into serious trouble, eliminated jobs or both. Since 2008, some 25 of its companies — roughly one of every five it owns — have filed for bankruptcy. Among the losers was Friendly's, the restaurant chain ... (Sun Capital was accused by a federal agency of pushing Friendly’s into bankruptcy ... to avoid paying pensions to the chain’s employees; Sun disputes that contention.) Another company that sank into bankruptcy was Real Mex, owner of the Chevy’s restaurant chain. In that case, Mr. Leder lost money for his investors not once, but twice."
Personal investments
Leder was a member of an investment group led by Josh Harris that purchased the Philadelphia 76ers for $280 million in 2011. Leder was also a limited partner of another group led by Harris that purchased the New Jersey Devils of the NHL and the Prudential Center arena for $320 million in 2013.
Philanthropy
In 2010, Leder established the Marc J. Leder Foundation, Inc. a non-profit corporation based in Boca Raton that partially funds the Sun Capital Partners Foundation and makes grants to organizations. Past donations have included a $2 million gift to establish the Marc J. Leder Behavior Change for Good Term Fund at the School of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a $1 million gift to endow a curatorial directorship at Penn’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), where he sits on the board.
Personal life
Leder was married to Lisa J. Weisbein from 1987 until divorcing in 2010; they have three children. Leder filed for divorce from his wife of 22 years after she cheated on him with their children’s 23-year-old tennis coach, according to filings in court by Leder’s divorce attorney. They engaged in a contentious, messy divorce battle, fighting over the value of Leder’s 50% position in Sun Capital; they finally settled for an undisclosed amount.
In 2012 Leder hosted a $50,000-per-plate fundraising dinner at his Boca Raton home for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Leder threatened to sue the bartender who made the recording.
In January 2012, Leder had another daughter with his girlfriend at the time.
References
Other sources
Foroohar, Kambiz "Blackstone, Apollo Outshone as Sun Capital Buys Boston Market", Bloomberg, 2 October 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2012. Kumar, Prameet "Wharton alums purchase 76ers", The Daily Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia, 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012. Noto, Anthony "EXCLUSIVE: Sun Capital Buys The Uniform Place", Mergers & Acquisitions, 21 December 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
Gavrilos, James S. "Sun Capital Partners, Inc. supports Boca Helping Hands to Fight Poverty and Hunger", Boca Helping Hands, September 21, 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2012. "Sun Capital Partners Donation" Retrieved 19 March 2012. "12th Annual Art for Life 2011!" Retrieved 19 March 2012. "Marc J. Leder Foundation, Inc." Retrieved 19 March 2012.