Gedale B. Horowitz, a Wall Street and muni veteran of more than 60 years, has decided to call it a career at the age of 87.
Horowitz joined Salomon Brothers & Hutzler in November 1955 and through his tenacity and natural knack for deal making, he was made General Partner in 1967. JHe would go on to serve on the Executive Committee of Salomon Brothers and on the Board of Salomon Inc. until its sale to Travelers Group in 1997. His retirement will be effective on June 30.
“Dale was a lion of midcentury Wall Street and a valued employee of Citi and its predecessors for over six decades. He was a respected colleague and a valuable mentor to many and he was an early advocate of diversity in the workplace,” said Jamie Forese, president of Citigroup and CEO of the institutional clients group. “We are incredibly grateful for all of his contributions, his leadership and professionalism and most of all for the spirit he brought with him to Citi and our legacy companies.”
Over the last 20 years, he has served as a senior managing director in the Institutional Clients Group at Citi, where he has imparted his wisdom, professionalism and generous character to colleagues and clients around the world.
“A titan within Municipal and Infrastructure Finance, which is the backbone of the communities where we live and work, Dale pioneered new markets, working through several financial crises and was incredibly proud to have played a role in national public works that were ‘built by bonds,' " said Forese, who is also getting set to retire after more than three decades at the bank.
In addition to his service at Citi, Horowitz served as a key delegate of several government and industry groups, including serving as chairman of the U.S. Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, Founder of the Public Securities Association, chairman of the Securities Industry Association, and as an original member and chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. These were roles that he took very seriously as part of his career and his commitment to responsible finance.
“This is such an unusual thing in today’s world, where one person spends 64 years working and at one company. We have so much gratitude toward him and the contributions he made to this company. He has been a mentor, advisor and counselor to many who have worked here over the years, including myself. When I started at Salomon, he was already 30 years in but he literally has helped hundreds of people over the time along his journey,” Forese said.
Alexandra Lebenthal considers Horowitz a friend, as he was close and worked with her father,
“Dale is such a legend and not just because he was an incredible banker but also because he is a true gentlemen, caring about people the same no matter who they are,” she said. “He is a great problem solver. Naturally he helped NYC out when it got hit in the face in the mid 70s, and then again in 1992 with Orange County, California, which was back in a time where defaults were unheard of, whereas today they are somewhat normal. Not to mention he led a firm through and past the financial crisis.”
Horowitz, a major banking figure during the New York City fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s and the Orange County bankruptcy about 20 years later, also received The Bond Buyer's second annual Jim Lebenthal Infrastructure Champion
“At Citi, we take great pride in our unparalleled municipal finance business,” Joe Geraci, co-head of global spread products at Citi. “Dale’s leadership of the municipal business at Salomon and important contributions to the development of the overall industry are legendary and an important part of the legacy and culture of Citi’s municipal business today.”
From the day Forese got to know Horowitz more than 30 years ago, it was evident to him right away what Dale's two passions are: family and the firm, but there were essentially the same since he treats the latter like the former.
“He lives the life of what should be expected, setting examples of behavior and is a consistent reminder of how we should treat one another," Forese said. "Clients and colleagues are both people and should be treated equally. It is a perfect example of how if you look after your clients and employees, profitability will follow suit.”
