Friday, May 12, 2000 in Daily News (NY)
| Ted Forstmann has worn many hats in his high-powered life: Wall Street financier, philanthropist, Republican benefactor, even escort to the late Princess of Wales.
Now he is said to be eying another job: U.S. senator from New York. Following a stunning series of personal setbacks for the cancer-stricken Mayor Giuliani, Republicans from New York to Washington reportedly are urging Forstmann, 59, to consider the race – assuming the mayor drops out. “I think Teddy should get ready to run,” Jack Kemp, a former Buffalo congressman and Housing and Urban Development secretary who now works at the Forstmann-funded Empower America, a Washington-based think tank dedicated to conservative causes. “I like [Long Island Republican Rick] Lazio, and I am a big fan of Gov. George Pataki,” said Kemp, listing the other two Republicans most often mentioned as possible Senate challengers to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. “But I don’t think any of them have the ability to talk to different groups of people in the same way that Teddy can.” Forstmann did not return calls yesterday, and his office said he would have no comment unless Giuliani bowed out, after which “he would give the race serious thought,” an aide said. If he did jump in, Forstmann would start with a personal fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $525 million – money he would use to finance his own campaign, sources said. He can add to that a powerful circle of friends. When he recently celebrated his upcoming 60th birthday, speakers included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Artists Management Group chief Michael Ovitz, former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles, NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw and Martin Luther King 3rd. “He has friends left, right and center,” said one partygoer. And girlfriends. In addition to Princess Diana, he has been linked to model Christina Estrada. Most recently he was sighted at a Knicks game with model Elizabeth Hurley, who insists the pair are just friends. But it is his business and charitable ventures for which Forstmann is most known. His private investment firm, Forstmann Little & Co., has purchased stakes in such giants as Ziff-Davis Publishing, soft drink company Dr. Pepper and Gulfstream Aerospace, which he sold for a reported $3 billion last year. Last year, he used $50 million of his own money to launch the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which grants 40,000 scholarships each year of up to $1,500 to inner-city kids. His annual Huggy Bear Tennis Tournament in Southampton, L.I., raises $1 million a year for camps geared toward terminally ill children, and he is active in Bosnian and South African charities.THEODORE (TED) FORSTMANN AGE: 59 HOMETOWN: Greenwich, Conn. OCCUPATION: Senior partner of Forstmann Little & Co. in Manhattan ESTIMATED NET WORTH: $925 million EDUCATION: Yale University; Columbia University School of Law MARITAL STATUS: Single AVOCATIONS: Supporter of numerous philanthropic causes. Co-founder of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for low-income children to attend private school. |