Latest news with #SimpsonThacher
New York Times
11-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Richard Beattie, Who Helped Pioneer Private Equity Takeovers, Dies at 86
Richard Beattie, a mergers lawyer who helped pioneer private equity takeovers — work that was immortalized in the much-lauded book 'Barbarians at the Gate' — and who served in Washington and New York City government, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86. His daughter Lisa Beattie Frelinghuysen said the cause was cancer. Over nearly six decades at the white-shoe New York firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, the soft-spoken Mr. Beattie — Dick, as he was widely known — became one of Wall Street's most-sought corporate advisers. He helped put together AOL's $165 billion takeover of Time Warner in 2001 and JPMorgan Chase's $58 billion acquisition of Bank One in 2004, and advised the board of the insurer American International Group on its $85 billion federal bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. He went on to serve as Simpson Thacher's chairman from 1991 to 2004 and as senior chairman until his death. But his earliest and most enduring claim to fame was in the late 1960s, when he presciently recognized that private equity firms — corporate takeover artists who used debt to buy companies — would become a major force on Wall Street. As a young associate, Mr. Beattie was introduced to Henry R. Kravis, who would go on to be one of the top names in leveraged buyouts. Mr. Beattie became Mr. Kravis's go-to counsel on ever-larger takeovers, culminating in the $25 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco, completed in 1989, that was chronicled by the journalists Bryan Burrough and John Helyar in the book 'Barbarians at the Gate,' published that year. For a decade, the transaction held the record as the biggest leveraged buyout. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Wall Street Journal
08-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Richard ‘Dick' Beattie, Star Lawyer in Famed Private-Equity Deals, Dies at 86
Behind every private-equity buyout is a cadre of lawyers. Behind some of the biggest buyouts was Dick Beattie. Beattie, who ended his career as senior chairman of law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, was among the first attorneys to recognize private equity's potential. He rode the industry's explosive growth, becoming one of the country's top mergers-and-acquisitions lawyers and shaping Simpson Thacher into a private-equity powerhouse.
Economic Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Microsoft swaps law firms in shareholder case, hiring Trump target
Microsoft is switching the law firm representing it in a shareholder case, replacing one that settled with the Trump administration to avoid a punishing executive order with one that is fighting the White House. Court documents showed Microsoft has hired Jenner & Block to replace Simpson Thacher in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit over its $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The filings did not give a reason. Microsoft, without elaborating, said in a statement to Reuters that Simpson Thacher continues to represent it on other matters. Companies can have many reasons for switching legal teams, including to save money or avoid attorney-client conflicts. Simpson Thacher did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jenner & Block, which has done prior work for Microsoft, declined to comment. Jenner and three other firms are suing President Donald Trump's administration over his executive orders that stripped their security clearances, restricted their access to government buildings and sought to cancel federal contracts held by their clients. Wall Street firm Simpson Thacher is among nine firms that have collectively pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services to the White House since Trump launched his pressure campaign on firms that he accused of "weaponizing" the legal system against him. The New York Times first reported Microsoft's change in counsel. Jenner's lawsuit against the Trump administration called the executive order an "unconstitutional abuse of power" that sought to drive away its clients. It said the order was retribution for its past employment of a prosecutor involved in the U.S. special counsel probe into Russian contacts with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. A former top lawyer at Microsoft and dozens of other current and former general counsels at major U.S. companies said in an April 11 court brief backing Jenner and other firms that Trump's orders force companies "to choose counsel to avoid the President's retribution rather than based on independent business judgment, experience, skill, or expertise." Simpson Thacher represented Microsoft in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, maker of the popular video game "Call of Duty." The deal, announced in 2022, was the largest ever in the gaming industry. The lawsuit in Delaware claimed Activision improperly approved a draft merger agreement and not the final version. Microsoft in 2024 asked a judge to validate the acquisition and deny a $15 million fee request from lawyers who represented an Activision shareholder.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft swaps law firms in shareholder case, hiring Trump adversary
By Mike Scarcella and Tom Hals Microsoft is switching the law firm representing it in a shareholder case from one that has settled with the Trump administration to one that is fighting it. Court documents showed Microsoft has hired Jenner & Block to replace Simpson Thacher in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit over its $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard . The filings did not give a reason. Microsoft, without elaborating, said in a statement to Reuters that Simpson Thacher continues to represent it on other matters. Representatives for the firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jenner and three other firms are suing President Donald Trump's administration over his executive orders that stripped their security clearances, restricted their access to government buildings and sought to cancel federal contracts held by their clients. Wall Street firm Simpson Thacher is among nine firms that have collectively pledged nearly $1 billion in free legal services to the White House since Trump launched his pressure campaign on firms that he accused of "weaponizing" the legal system against him. Companies can have many reasons for switching legal teams, including to save money or avoid attorney-client conflicts. Jenner has represented Microsoft in other cases, court filings show. The New York Times first reported Microsoft's change in counsel. Jenner's lawsuit against the Trump administration called the executive order an "unconstitutional abuse of power" that sought to drive away its clients. It said the order was retribution for its past employment of a prosecutor involved in the U.S. special counsel probe into Russian contacts with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. A former top lawyer at Microsoft and dozens of other current and former general counsels at major U.S. companies said in a court brief backing Jenner and other firms that Trump's orders force companies "to choose counsel to avoid the President's retribution rather than based on independent business judgment, experience, skill, or expertise." Simpson Thacher represented Microsoft in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, maker of the popular video game "Call of Duty." The deal, announced in 2022, was the largest-ever in the gaming industry. The lawsuit in Delaware claimed Activision improperly approved a draft merger agreement and not the final version. Microsoft in 2024 asked a judge to validate the acquisition and deny a $15 million fee request from lawyers who represented an Activision shareholder.
New Straits Times
02-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Microsoft swaps law firms in shareholder case, hiring Trump adversary
KUALA LUMPUR: Microsoft is switching the law firm representing it in a shareholder case, replacing one that settled with the Trump administration to avoid a punishing executive order with one that is fighting the White House. Court documents showed Microsoft has hired Jenner & Block to replace Simpson Thacher in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit over its US$69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The filings did not give a reason. Microsoft, without elaborating, said in a statement to Reuters that Simpson Thacher continues to represent it on other matters. Companies can have many reasons for switching legal teams, including to save money or avoid attorney-client conflicts. Simpson Thacher did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jenner & Block, which has done prior work for Microsoft, declined to comment. Jenner and three other firms are suing President Donald Trump's administration over his executive orders that stripped their security clearances, restricted their access to government buildings and sought to cancel federal contracts held by their clients. Wall Street firm Simpson Thacher is among nine firms that have collectively pledged nearly US$1 billion in free legal services to the White House since Trump launched his pressure campaign on firms that he accused of "weaponising" the legal system against him. The New York Times first reported Microsoft's change in counsel. Jenner's lawsuit against the Trump administration called the executive order an "unconstitutional abuse of power" that sought to drive away its clients. It said the order was retribution for its past employment of a prosecutor involved in the US special counsel probe into Russian contacts with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. A former top lawyer at Microsoft and dozens of other current and former general counsels at major US companies said in an April 11 court brief backing Jenner and other firms that Trump's orders force companies "to choose counsel to avoid the President's retribution rather than based on independent business judgment, experience, skill, or expertise." Simpson Thacher represented Microsoft in its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, maker of the popular video game "Call of Duty." The deal, announced in 2022, was the largest ever in the gaming industry. The lawsuit in Delaware claimed Activision improperly approved a draft merger agreement and not the final version. Microsoft in 2024 asked a judge to validate the acquisition and deny a US$15 million fee request from lawyers who represented an Activision shareholder.
