Maitre d’
“Edelman serves what we call the mass affluent,” Lee said. “You have some money but not a huge amount.” The company builds portfolios for customers in a series of ETFs that mimic a pension fund. It’s done in liquid securities, with computers rebalancing accounts, and every customer has a planning officer. The minimum account size is $5,000.
Edelman said Lee understands his business is about “relationships beyond all else.”
“He took us all to dinner at Quality Meats, where he’s an owner, and he quickly becomes the maitre d’ -- because he knows everybody there, not just the patrons but the staff,” Edelman said. “He really knows how to make people feel at ease.”
“I always kind of call him my rabbi,” said David Wasserman, a friend and the principal of Wasserman Real Estate Capital LLC.
A customized, rapid-fire song after Gilbert & Sullivan might have served to recap Lee’s career in the setting of a fundraising event.
Instead Lee, ever the Borscht Belt-style yukster, regaled guests with a joke about the first buyout.
Son-In-Law
The scene: the man’s office, where he’s just given his son- in-law the stock certificate for 40 percent ownership in his company.
The son-in-law asks, what he should do in the company.