Cohn was more willing to seek compromise at American University. In 2005, an anonymous letter was sent to the school's board, accusing President Benjamin Ladner of using university funds to buy $100 bottles of wine, pay for a personal French chef and spend weekends in Europe.

After investigating the allegations, the trustees voted to dismiss Ladner. Cohn was named to a three-person committee that helped negotiate an exit package of about $3.7 million. Four board members, including former T. Rowe Price CEO Collins and Paul M. Wolff, a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, resigned in protest.

'Very Disappointing'

"I like Gary," Wolff said in an interview. "I found him pleasant to deal with. Ultimately, I found him very disappointing. He was far more willing to seek accommodation than he was to take a firm stand."

Leslie Bains, chairwoman of the board, also stepped down. A managing director of Citi Private Bank, she said that while she was unhappy with Ladner's severance, Cohn had been dedicated to the school.

"You put American University first and move on," she said of Cohn, who's still on the school's board and also a director of the Harlem Children's Zone and the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York.

Two of Cohn's friends, Ovitz and Orin Snyder, a litigation partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in New York, said there's more than one side to Cohn's personality.

"He's wildly compulsive about his business, as opposed to his personal life, where he's incredibly loose and fun to be with," said Ovitz, whose Hollywood agency was likened to a hurricane in a 2002 Vanity Fair profile by Bryan Burrough. "He can be stern. He can be gentle."

SoulCycle Companions

Snyder, who has represented Facebook, Freddie Mac, LeBron James and Goldman Sachs, has known Cohn since they bonded about 15 years ago at birthday parties they went to with their kids. The lawyer said that while Cohn can be blunt, he hasn't seen him aggressive, "if by aggressive you mean unduly harsh, unduly punitive, or unduly sharp."

Snyder and Cohn go to concerts and sporting events together, drink an occasional glass of tequila and attend spinning classes at SoulCycle, a cycling studio.

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