‘Modest’ Isn’t a Word Used to Describe New S&C Chairman
The new leader of Sullivan & Cromwell is an ordained orthodox rabbi who pioneered securitization in the 1980s and gained a reputation for providing advice that helped his clients make money.
Joseph Shenker’s good advice extended to his own law firm, according to the New York Times DealBook blog. During the real estate bust of the 1990s, Shenker advised Sullivan & Cromwell to buy its headquarters as part of a real-estate condominium deal. S&C paid about $12.72 per square foot for about 40 percent of the building, and now leases out unneeded space. Rents are now about $50 a square foot.
Shenker replaces H. Rodgin Cohen, who now gets the title of senior chairman, DealBook says.
“To many of his clients, Mr. Shenker is the archetypal Wall Street lawyer: fast-talking, hard-working, brilliant, innovative and boisterous,” according to DealBook. “Modesty, however, is not among the traits mentioned by even his closest friends.”
