Major Deals and Financial Transactions
Although there have been no recent attempts to estimate Peizer's wealth, the Los Angeles Times confirmed his net worth at $50 million back in 1994. While discussing the unusual step of Peizer investing his own personal net worth in some investment deals, the paper stated that he "avoids the usual accoutrements of wealth, such as big houses and expensive cars. In an article written in 1990’s, a reporter also noted that "Peizer still lives in the condo he bought nine years ago, when he came West to sit at Milken's left hand."
However, despite his modest surroundings, Peizer has been involved in some of the top U.S. financial transactions. For instance, while at Drexel, Peizer was involved in financing some of the largest multi-billion dollar corporate takeovers of the 1980s, including Ted Turner's purchase of MGM/UA Entertainment Co., and the buyout of Beatrice foods, Storer Cable, and RJR Nabisco. Peizer and his clients also led the financings of America's most innovative and pioneering companies. This is best exemplified by the capitalizing of McCaw Cellular, the nation's first national cell phone carrier, which later became AT&T Cellular. Peizer and his clients also led financings for such known Industrialists as: Ron Perlman, John Malone, Carl Icahn, Ted Turner, Nelson Peltz and Rupert Murdoch. Peizer and his clients also financed many of the early buyouts of LBO pioneers KKR, Blackstone Group and The Carlyle Group.
On the heels of the Turner/MGM/UA deal, Peizer became a magnet for entertainment deals and financings. One such deal, chronicled in the book "Hit and Run," married Peter Guber and John Peter's, Guber Peter's & Co. with Burt Surgarman's Barris Industries. Motivated by Barris' $100 Million cash hoard, Peizer merged the two companies, which was then parlayed into Sony Pictures.
In 1999, Peizer surprised the financial markets when he successfully outbid Billionaire Alec Gores Technology Group in a takeover bid for Cray Research (now Cray, Inc.) by the much smaller Peizer-controlled, Tera Computer Co. Tera issued cash, stock and notes to purchase the once-struggling supercomputer company from Silicon Graphics. Over the years, Cray has developed many of the supercomputers used by the U.S. Defense and Intelligence communities, pharmaceutical, aerospace, oil drilling and weather and seismic industries. Within 2 years of Peizer's acquisition, Cray's market capitalization grew from $25 million to $1.3 Billion. While building these companies, Peizer became integral and developed such an investor following, that his departure would have a profound effect on these companies. When he stepped down from one such company, the stock took a downward turn when a press release in 1999 "announced his "resignation", claiming that his "objectives have been achieved." The stock dropped 16% on the day of the announcement. The stock has drifted further south to $13.50, off 47% from its 52-week high, from Peizer's resignation."
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