David Bonderman, non-public fairness pioneer and TPG co-founder, dies | USAEMALL.com

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David Bonderman, the lawyer turned private equity pioneer, has died at age 82.

In the early 1990s, Bonderman co-founded Texas Pacific Group and led the buyout of Continental Airlines. That deal cemented his status as a turnaround tycoon, putting put him to a class of financiers, such as Henry Kravis and Stephen Schwarzman, who were bold enough to acquire some of the biggest companies in the US.

Bonderman came into the world of high-stakes private equity deals from an unconventional route after first making his name as a lawyer and preservationist.

Bonderman successfully defended Raymond Dirks, a Wall Street analyst who had been charged with insider trading in the 1970s, ultimately winning an appeal at the US Supreme Court. The ruling later became a landmark decision in US securities fraud law.

After a legal career that included a stint at the US Department of Justice and at the law firm Arnold & Porter, he went to work for oil tycoon Robert Bass in Texas. Bass knew Bonderman from his pro bono work as a preservationist lawyer who successfully petitioned against the tear down of the beaux-arts masterpiece in New York’s Grand Central train station.

Bonderman met Jim Coulter while working for Bass and the duo would then lead the rescue of Continental Airlines. That deal proved to be the precursor to the creation of TPG, the now publicly listed private capital group that manages almost $250bn in assets.

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