I have no idea why the Oregonian started the article by portraying Wasserstein as anything other than a aggressive buy-out firm which strips down companies and tries to sell the pieces for a profit. That strategy was obvious from the moment it purchased Bear Creek (which owned Harry & David...and Jackson & Perkins) from Japan’s Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical, which had bought it way back in 1989.

Vultures are really ugly birds.

Is this the same guy?
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/wasserstein-lazards-chief-is-hospitalized/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Isn't Wasserstein of the same cloth as KKR? Leveraged buyout firms are all the same. Maximize the upside to the investors, and minimize the downside, with the employees, bond holders and taxpayers holding the bag if things go bad.

Didn't Fred Meyer get taken private via KKR (and the PERS money from Oregon) and then spun off public later, for many millions to KKR and Oregon's PERS?

Leverage and debt is very ugly when the underlying assets are going down, but pretty successful when the assets are going up.

Sad. They used to be such a good company. Its a tough business when people that don't care about the company get involved.

Sorry to say it, but Harry & David was going down the tubes long before this all happened. Their prices were absurd for a box with a few oversized pears - which by the way are dirt cheap up in Hood River Valley. And many of their other offerings you could find locally at better prices - if that was the type of gift you were after.

Harry and David is known for it's quality goods and their customer guarantee, you can't usually get that anywhere else! They may be some what pricey but you have to remember their customers have been with them a long time. Also people that get involved do care about their company! And lets remember hear Harry and David are not just about pears, they have so many nice products. For a company that donates to charity's when the economy is down and others can't even tithe 10% of their income to their religion or charity I think Harry and David's reputation is above the rest, and one more thing Bear Creek Operations builds up the companies they buy out. Plus I personally know many who work for them and are treated with extreme respect even if you are at the bottom of the line.

LynneZ RawBeanZ, you are correct; but Mr Wasserstein, he dead:
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/bruce-wasserstein-lazard-chief-dies/

Wendy Wasserstein's bro'.

Should have dined on the pears, not the company.