Eric Gleacher an American investor and financier, is the founder and chairman of Gleacher & Co.  an independent investment banking firm based in New York City.

Gleacher gained prominence as an investment banker in the 1980s. In 1978, he had founded the mergers & acquisitions department of Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb. He left Lehman, following its acquisition by Shearson

Shearson

Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward Shearson and the firm he founded, Shearson Hammill & Co...

 and headed the mergers & acquisitions group at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....

 from 1985 through 1990. During this time, Gleacher was involved in the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco

RJR Nabisco

RJR Nabisco, Inc., was an American conglomerate formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. RJR Nabisco was purchased in 1988 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co...

 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...

 as well as the leveraged buyout of Revlon

Revlon

Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...

 by Ronald Perelman

Ronald Perelman

Ronald Owen Perelman is an American business magnate. Through his company MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., he has invested in various companies in grocery, cigar, licorice, makeup, car, photography, television, camping, security, lottery, jewelry, banks, and comic book industries.-Early...

.

In 1990, Gleacher founded his own firm Gleacher Partners, which he sold to National Westminster Bank

National Westminster Bank

National Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets...

 in 1996. He bought back his firm in 1999 for $135 million. In 2009, Gleacher merged his firm with the publicly traded Broadpoint Securities Group. The combined firm was renamed Gleacher & Co.

Gleacher graduated from Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 after which he served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years in the 1960s. Thereafter, Gleacher received his MBA from University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

.

Other Affiliations

Gleacher is on the board of trustees for the Hospital for Special Surgery

Hospital for Special Surgery

Hospital for Special Surgery is a hospital in New York City that specializes in orthopedic surgery and the treatment of rheumatologic conditions....

 and Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

.