Roy Neuberger, who co-founded Neuberger Berman in 1939, passed away on Friday in New York City at the age of 107, according to news reports. He died of natural causes at his home in Manhattan's Pierre Hotel.

Roy Neuberger Neuberger Berman Co-Founder

Neuberger is survived by his sons Roy and Jim, daughter Ann, eight grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren. Services are set for December 26 at Riverside Memorial Chapel.

Neuberger, who went to the Neuberger Berman office every day until he was 99 years old, was also an avid art collector.

"He loved his life, enjoying both his vocation and avocation," Neuberger's son Jim told Bloomberg. "I think he loved the fact that he supported living artists."

Roy Neuberger was born on July 21, 1903 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The family relocated to Manhattan in 1909. He was raised by his sister after becoming an orphan at the age of 12.

Neuberger started working as a stockbroker at Halle & Stieglitz in 1930, married Marie Salant in 1932 and co-founded Neuberger Berman with Robert Berman in 1939. In 1950, the company launched one of the first no-load mutual funds, the Guardian Fund.

Neuberger wrote an autobiography, "So Far, So Good: The First 94 Years," in 1997. He also penned "The Passionate Collector," which was published in 2003.

In 2003, Lehman Brothers bought Neuberger Berman for $2.6 billion. In the wake of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing amid the credit crisis in the fall of 2008, a group of Neuberger Berman executives and portfolio managers bought a 51-percent stake in Neuberger Berman.

When the employee-led buyout was completed in May 2009, Roy Neuberger issued this statement: "This is a particularly proud day for me. It is wonderful to see the firm independent once again, and moving forward with a continuing commitment to common-sense investing and putting its clients first."

The AFP quoted Neuberger Berman CEO George Walker as saying in a statement issued Saturday that Neuberger is a "quiet force who inspired the respect of his competitors and the loyalty of his colleagues through his keen insights and extraordinary decision making."

Other news outlets that wrote about Neuberger include The New York Times, Bloomberg, BBC, The Associated Press and The Daily Mail.  

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


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