Meet billionaire Marc Lasry: the Moroccan-born hedge fund titan and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner went from rags to riches after building Avenue Capital Group with his sister – but why is he being sued?
Here’s what you need to know about the billionaire everyone is talking about.
Why is Marc Lasry embroiled in legal drama?
Gina Strum, a former Avenue Capital Group employee, accused Lasry of repeated sexual harassment and retaliation in a lawsuit filed in October 2024. According to Fortune, Strum claims Lasry forced her to kiss and hug him while he touched her breasts. She said he retaliated with a lawsuit after she threatened to tell investors about the harassment.
Strum’s legal case comes just days after Lasry and his sister, Sonia Gardner, sued Strum for blackmail. Strum reportedly also threatened to reveal that Gardner had an illness which, according to court documents, required tumour on her lung to be removed. Strum had threatened to reveal the information to investors.
Strum, Lasry and Gardner have all denied the allegations against them.
How did Marc Lasry make his fortune?
Lasry and his sister Sonia founded Avenue Capital Management in 1995 with US$7 million in funding from friends and family. The firm now manages around US$13 billion in assets and focuses on undervalued securities.
Lasry has a reported estimated net worth of US$1.9 billion, and is known to invest in sport. In 2023, he sold a 25 per cent stake in the Milwaukee Bucks when the team had a US$3.5 billion valuation. In an interview with CNBC, he said his firm had invested in pickleball and British football. Lasry believes in sports as an “investible asset”. Speaking to CNBC, he said: “You are literally in the first inning of sport. This is like literally a trillion-dollar industry if you take a look at all the different subsets.”
His rags to riches story
