Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York to an accountant, Perella graduated from Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

 in 1964 on a full scholarship with a degree in accounting. After serving in the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 and the New Jersey Air National Guard

New Jersey Air National Guard

The New Jersey Air National Guard consists of almost 2300 Guardsmen from New Jersey.The New Jersey Air National Guard is governed through the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs....

 from 1964 to 1970, he attended and graduated from Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...

 in May 1972 with a Masters in Business Administration.

Career

In the fall of 1972, he was hired as an associate at First Boston

Credit Suisse First Boston

Credit Suisse First Boston was the former name of the banking firm Credit Suisse.-History:In 1978, Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation formed a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture called the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston...

, where he worked in the mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...

 department. He remained with First Boston until 1988 when he teamed up with associate Bruce Wasserstein

Bruce Wasserstein

Bruce Jay Wasserstein was an American investment banker and businessman. He was a graduate of the McBurney School, University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and spent a year at Cambridge University...

 to create their own mergers and acquisitions advisory business as Wasserstein Perella & Co.

Wasserstein Perella & Co.

Wasserstein Perella & Co. was an investment bank established by Bruce Wasserstein, Joseph R. Perella, Bill Lambert, and one other founder in 1988, former bankers at First Boston Corp., until its eventual sale to Dresdner Bank in 2000 for some $1.4 billion in stock...

. Their company was at the forefront of the 1980s/90s boom in corporate takeovers.

Joseph Perella left Wasserstein Perella in 1992/1993 to join 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....

, where he was first head of mergers and acquisitions, and then the chairman of the Institutional Securities and Investment Banking Group. In 2005, Perella and other top executives resigned from Morgan Stanley in the wake of policy disagreements with Chairman Philip J. Purcell

Philip J. Purcell

Philip J. Purcell was the former Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley in the late 1990s and 2000s. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of Dean Witter and managed the firm under its ownership by Sears, Roebuck & Co....

. Purcell soon resigned following more high level departures from Morgan Stanley.

One of the most high profile deals Perella advised on following his departure from Morgan Stanley was advising on the Bank of America takeover of leading credit card company MBNA

MBNA

MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A., headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006...

. In November 2005, Perella and former Morgan Stanley banker Terry Meguid announced that they were opening an investment banking boutique. On June 15, 2006, Perella announced the formation of a new financial services firm, Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners L.P. is an independent, privately owned, global financial services firm providing corporate advisory and asset management services to clients around the world. Launched in 2006 by Joseph R. Perella, Peter Weinberg, Terry Meguid and several other partners from prominent...

, based in New York and London.

Philanthropy

Perella is a Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

 trustee. In 2003, he and his wife Amy, a survivor of Hodgkin's disease, donated $10 million to the College of Business and Economics to endow the "Perella Department of Finance" and several faculty positions. They have also a endowed scholarship fund for Lehigh students from the Newark, N.J. area, where Perella grew up. They also supported the construction of Rauch Business Center. In addition, the couple created "The Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine" at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. He is also an extremely active member of the National Italian American Federation.