John M. Angelo
June 3, 1941 – January 1, 2016
John Angelo co-founded Angelo, Gordon & Co. with Michael Gordon in 1988 and served as the Chief Executive Officer for 27 years.
John began his career in 1966 as a bond trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and was soon recruited by the arbitrage group at Bear Stearns. He later joined L.F. Rothschild & Co. where he quickly assumed a leadership role, becoming a partner in 1975 and ultimately Vice Chairman. At Rothschild, John met Michael and they managed capital in distressed securities, risk arbitrage and convertible arbitrage funds.
In the wake of the 1987 stock market crash, John and Michael formed Angelo, Gordon, an investment management firm focused on alternative asset classes. Their most important goals were to operate their business with the highest ethical standards, to hire talented investment professionals who would uphold their ideals and work together collaboratively, and to make clients their first priority.
John was widely known in philanthropic circles and was passionate about a number of causes which he supported, including Ronald McDonald House New York; Whitney Museum of American Art; Museum of Modern Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New York Botanical Garden; Smithsonian Institution; Central Park Conservancy; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and buildOn, an organization which provides education and service opportunities to inner-city youth. John created the Hollywood Employee Education Fund, providing full tuition for children of staff of the Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, New Jersey, and set up St. Lawrence University’s New York City Semester, offering study and internships in arts or finance. John also served many years on the board of directors of Sotheby’s, and had recently become a director of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.
John’s legacy of creativity, passion, collaboration, generosity, integrity and client focus has influenced, and will continue to influence, Angelo, Gordon. He was a great partner to Michael, a visionary for the firm, and a generous supporter of countless good causes. The strength of the firm’s culture is reflected in the personal bond that many of our employees felt with him. John had a stake in everyone’s success and pushed his employees to think outside the box and to “never stand still.” We will miss him and we will all keep pushing forward.
John is survived by his wife of 48 years, Judy Hart Angelo, their children Jack, Kate and Jesse, and five grandchildren.