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Warren Buffett Once Said: 'Ace Greenberg Does Almost Everything Better Than I Do: Bridge, Magic Tricks, Dog Training, Arbitrage'

Gus LubinJul 25, 2014, 21:55 IST

Alan "Ace" Greenberg, who served as CEO of Bear Stearns from 1978 to 1993, died today at the age of 86.

The legendary trader, who started as a clerk at Bear in 1949, received high praise from Warren Buffett in the forward to his 1996 book:

"Ace Greenberg does almost everything better than I do: bridge, magic tricks, dog training, arbitrage - all of the important things in life."

A bridge fanatic like Buffett, Greenberg famously hired a bunch of bridge players at Bear including future CEO Jimmy Cayne. After the firm's demise in March 2008, however, Greenberg blamed his former protegé for taking excessive risks while paying too much attention to bridge and smoking dope.