Robert E Linton

Robert E. Linton, former CEO and Chairman of Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., died April 26, 2016 at the age of 90. During the early 1980s, Mr. Linton served as the head of the storied investment banking and securities firm that pioneered the use of high yield (or "junk") bonds. Robert Linton was born in New York City on May 19, 1925 to Helen and Adolph Lichtenstein, a specialist on the New York Stock Exchange. During his senior year at Phillips Exeter Academy, Linton enlisted in the Army, eventually serving in WWII as a navigator and bombardier and achieving the rank of 2nd lieutenant in the Army Air Force. In 1946, Mr. Linton joined Burnham & Co., a small investment bank as the eighth employee, starting as a runner delivering stock certificates around Wall Street. Hard-working and ambitious, Bob attended night school to earn his stock broker's license and later, his commodities broker's license. Linton worked in virtually every department of the firm, forming the company's Corporate Finance and Commodities departments. By 1976, the firm had become Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Linton was eventually named to head the firm by founder I.W. Burnham II, and in the early 1980s under his leadership, Drexel grew to become the most profitable firm on Wall Street. When Mr. Linton retired, DBL had 10,000 employees in worldwide offices. During his time on Wall Street, Mr. Linton was Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, 1980), a director of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, 1983-1987), and served as Chairman of the Securities Industry Association (SIA, 1983). Mr. Linton served two terms as a member of the National Council of Consultants to the Small Business Administration, was an expert witness before the Congressional committees drawing up the SBIC legislation and testified twice before the Senate Banking Committee against the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. Linton was a founding member of the American Business Conference, Inc., a coalition of growth companies. Mr. Linton was also an active and longstanding supporter of the social sector, serving as a founding member of the Board of Directors of Lincoln Center Theater from 1984 to 2015 and then as the organization's first Director Emeritus; and as a Director of the Board of the School of American Research, Santa Fe, NM (now known as School for Advanced Research) in the 1990s. In 1987, Linton was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After retiring from Drexel Burnham Lambert, Mr. Linton partnered with Cy Leslie, founder of Pickwick International to form Leslie Linton Entertainment, an investor in entertainment companies and properties, including Red Sky Entertainment, a creator, developer and marketer of family entertainment properties. Mr. Linton was an avid sportsman, enjoying tennis, golf, fishing and skiing, and took pride in winning a NASTAR ski race gold medal at the age of 72 in Taos, NM. Mr. Linton is survived by his wife of 63 years, the former Margot Tishman; a sister, Marion Benson, of Beverly Hills, CA; four children including Roberta L. Bennett, of Warren, VT; Thomas N. Linton of Santa Fe, NM; Jeffrey R. Linton (and his wife Judith), of Rye, NY; and Elizabeth M. Linton of Berkshire, England; and five grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held at Frank E. Campbell Chapel, 1076 Madison Ave., NYC, Monday, May 2nd at 11:30am.

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