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      Remembering David Bonderman, a Private Equity Pioneer

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      A former lawyer, he cofounded the giant investment firm TPG and became known for complex deals that remade corporate America. He died on Wednesday at 82.David Bonderman, a founder of TPG, in 2018. “He built and led an impressive firm,” David Solomon of Goldman Sachs said of Bonderman.Stephen B. Morton/Associated PressRemembering BondoDavid Bonderman, a corporate lawyer who co-founded the giant investment firm TPG and helped transform private equity into a multitrillion-dollar industry that reshaped Wall Street, died on Wednesday morning. He was 82.Bonderman — Bondo to his friends — became a private equity pioneer, leading big and complex takeovers that saw corporate titans go public, and whose success helped persuade publicly traded companies to adopt his industry’s tactics, DealBook’s Michael de la Merced writes.Bonderman’s entry into private equity was by happenstance. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he taught law and then worked as a civil rights lawyer for the Justice Department. He went on to join the Washington law firm Arnold & Porter. Among his achievements there was persuading the Supreme Court to overturn an insider-trading conviction of Raymond Dirks, a securities analyst turned whistle-blower.In the mid-1980s, Bonderman was approached by Robert Bass, the Texas oil magnate, about helping run his family office. Bonderman said that he had never invested professionally before, but Bass told him that he hadn’t either.Bonderman and a colleague in the family office, Jim Coulter, founded what became TPG in 1993. By then, the two had made their names by buying Continental out of bankruptcy and turning around the embattled airline. (Emblematic of their approach: They FedExed undesirable food from the plane to Continental’s C.E.O., telling him it needed improving.)They joined a small group of financiers who turned leveraged buyouts from a cottage industry into a Wall Street behemoth, borrowing money to buy, restructure and flip big businesses.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      She Invested in Her Future and Her Family. Which Property Would Work for Both?

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      Tabitha Jones can’t sit still. A compliance director for a financial firm, she has also coached volleyball, led wellness retreats, hosted pop-up luxury picnics and made a real estate career in the Bronx and lower Westchester County, N.Y.Ms. Jones, 38, didn’t intend to become a part-time real estate agent, but when she bought her first property in Westchester County a decade ago — a home for herself, her mother and her younger brother — everyone was so impressed with her diligence on the deal that they urged her to consider being the agent next time.[Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com]Always professionally curious, she took on an administrative role at a brokerage in White Plains, N.Y., on weekends. Since getting her license in 2016 and joining Keller Williams as an agent, she has worked mostly with first-time buyers, friends and acquaintances. Now an experienced investor and agent, she enjoys teaching others.“She just wants to elevate,” said her brother, Christian Jones, 30.Ms. Jones recently started a real estate investing club with a group of like-minded friends, all 35-to-40-year-old Afro-Latina women from the Bronx looking to invest in their home borough, which she believes is “the next big thing.”“There are going to be investors coming in, and they’re going to start taking over the neighborhoods,” she said. “Why can’t we be those investors?”Her goal is to own five properties. To reach it, she said, “you need to be willing to sacrifice.” She’s grateful to have a job in the finance industry (and her side gigs), and she doesn’t spend money on clothes, shoes or gadgets. Her phone is a hand-me-down, and she wouldn’t replace her car until “the wheels literally fell off.”Last year, Ms. Jones wanted to purchase her third property, ideally in the Bronx or nearby, which her brother could potentially occupy. He’d been living in a rental in the borough, finding himself after their father’s death, unsure of his next move. For the longer term, she sought a solid investment property that would be easy to rent out and could be a flexible asset, so she looked at everything from condos to multifamily homes to small mixed-use buildings.“I’m always looking,” Ms. Jones said. “I’m always in that head space.”Among her options:Find out what happened next by answering these two questions: More

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      Russian Troops Advance to Within 3 Miles of Key Ukrainian Transit Hub

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      Russia is pushing toward Pokrovsk, a strategic city for Ukraine’s army with important rail and road connections, in a rapid capturing of ground in the Donetsk region.Ukraine’s top general said on Thursday that his troops were facing “extremely fierce” fighting as Russian forces close in on the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, and that “unconventional decisions” would have to be made to bolster Ukrainian defenses.Although the commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, did not specify what kind of measures might be taken, his alarming statement underscored the deteriorating situation around Pokrovsk, a key rail and road hub for Ukraine’s army.In an effort to flank Pokrovsk, Russian troops have pushed south of the city in recent days and are now less than three miles from its outskirts, according to battlefield maps based on satellite images and publicly available footage of the fighting. They are also steadily advancing through villages and settlements several dozen miles to the south, threatening to seize the last two Ukrainian strongholds in the southern part of the Donetsk region.Moscow is advancing in Donetsk at its fastest pace since 2022, capturing hundreds of square miles each month as it leverages its overwhelming manpower advantage by breaking through Ukrainian positions weakened by troop shortages.Analysts say the Kremlin is racing to secure as many territorial gains as possible before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office next month and starts to push for peace talks with terms that are likely to be shaped by each side’s status on the battlefield.Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, said that from September to November, Russia had seized more than 600 square miles of Ukrainian territory, roughly twice the size of New York City, almost all of it in the Donetsk region.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      NYT Crossword Answers for Dec. 12, 2024

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      Daniel Bodily’s puzzle will have you looking in all directions.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — This is Daniel Bodily’s 12th crossword in The New York Times and, in my opinion, his puzzles just keep getting better. I really enjoyed this one, not because it was difficult, but because I had so much fun solving it and discovering the theme.I predict that some commenters will say that the puzzle was too easy for a Thursday. While the clues are fairly gentle for a Thursday grid, remember that other parts of a crossword may be tough for some. Not everyone sees things or processes information in the same way. Some may have been stuck on the theme, for example, while others may have needed time to figure out the visual elements that were included.Let’s be gentle with each other and enjoy this clever puzzle together.Today’s ThemeI will admit that I originally thought this was a football-themed puzzle and that the highlighted numbers were plays being called (“16! 22! 51! Hike!”). Feel free to chortle in amusement, because everything I know about football I learned from cartoons.Then I solved my first theme answer at 19A by using the crossings and said, “Huh. The [Part of a bat that produces the best contact] is certainly not SWEET SIXTEEN!” I was pretty sure the answer was really SWEET SPOT. It was at that moment that my eyes spotted the first highlight at 16A and lo, the entry was SPOT. The number that is spelled out in the theme answer refers to the highlighted circle.Another example is 36A’s [Get serious hang time, as a skateboarder], which, when solved, is CATCH TWENTY-TWO. Now look at 22A, another highlighted number: The answer is AIR, and CATCH AIR is another phrase for soaring through the air while skateboarding.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Dean of Students at Massachusetts School Charged With Conspiring to Traffic Cocaine

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      Federal prosecutors said Lavante Wiggins of Pittsfield High School and another man had conspired to traffic “large quantities” of the drug in western Massachusetts.The dean of students at a high school in western Massachusetts was arrested on Wednesday and charged with conspiring to traffic “large quantities of cocaine” after a nine-month investigation, federal authorities said.The dean, Lavante Wiggins of Pittsfield High School in Pittsfield, Mass., and another man, Theodore Warren, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Federal prosecutors said that Mr. Warren, 42, served as a “runner” delivering the drug for Mr. Wiggins.Mr. Wiggins, 30, made an initial appearance in federal court in Springfield, Mass., on Wednesday afternoon; he has not yet entered a plea. A lawyer representing him did not immediately respond to a phone call or an email.Joseph Curtis, the superintendent of Pittsfield Public Schools, said in a statement on Wednesday that Mr. Wiggins had been placed on administrative leave effective immediately.Pittsfield, a city of 43,000 people in the largely rural Berkshires region of Massachusetts, has lost jobs and population since an enormous General Electric plant that once employed thousands shut down in the 1980s. Its high school enrolls about 700 students; more than half are considered low income, according to state data.On the Facebook page for Pittsfield High School, a post from April 2021 welcomed Mr. Wiggins as the new dean of students. Dozens of commenters enthusiastically applauded the announcement. “Great hire!” one posted. “This news made my day.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump Considers Kennedy’s Daughter-in-Law for C.I.A. Deputy Director

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      Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, a former C.I.A. officer who is married to the son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raised alarms for publishing a book about her work at the agency without going through a review process.President-elect Donald J. Trump is considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s daughter-in-law to serve as the deputy director at the C.I.A., according to four people briefed on the matter.Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, 44, a former C.I.A. officer who is married to Mr. Kennedy’s son, met with Mr. Trump last week to discuss the job, the people said. The position does not require Senate confirmation, unlike the director job.Mr. Kennedy, who is the president-elect’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is among those encouraging Mr. Trump to hire her, according to two people close to the Trump transition team. Like others interviewed for this article, they spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.In an interview in 2023, Mr. Kennedy said it was “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the C.I.A. was involved in the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963.Ms. Fox Kennedy, who served as her father-in-law’s campaign manager, has raised alarms within the agency and among some lawmakers, in part because she published a book about her time in the C.I.A. in 2019 — while Mr. Trump was president — without going through the lengthy government review process required to check that classified information is not made public.Some former officials questioned details in the book about Ms. Fox Kennedy’s meetings in Pakistan with Islamic extremists.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      South Korea President Yoon Defends Martial Law Decree in Defiant Speech

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      President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to “fight to the end,” despite the opposition’s push to impeach him and his own party’s demand that he resign.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday defended his botched attempt to put South Korea under martial law last week, vowing to “fight to the end” despite the opposition-dominated legislature’s push to impeach him and his own party’s demand that he resign from office.In a televised speech, Mr. Yoon said he had never intended to disrupt the “constitutional order” when he declared martial law on Dec. 3 and sent hundreds of troops into the National Assembly. He said he had done so to “save the country” from what he called the “anti-state” opposition parties. Mr. Yoon said the opposition parties had used their majority in the Assembly to “paralyze” the country.Mr. Yoon said his action was part of his constitutional powers as president and did not amount to “insurrection,” as the opposition has charged.“I will fight to the end,” he said.Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party, which blocked opposition lawmakers’ attempt to impeach him on Saturday, has recommended that he instead resign in February or March. That would mean a new presidential election in April or May, which the party argues is the swiftest way to end the political turmoil triggered by the short-lived martial law decree.But Mr. Yoon indicated in his speech that he intends to remain in office while the opposition tries again to impeach him and, if impeached, will fight his removal at the Constitutional Court.If a president is impeached by the National Assembly, he is suspended from office while the Constitutional Court decides whether to reinstate or formally remove him, a process that can take up to six months.This is a developing story. More

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      Canada’s Plan To Avoid Trump’s Tariffs Takes Shape

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      Two weeks after a Mar-a-Lago dinner with Donald J. Trump, details of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to stave off a showdown with the United States are emerging.Canada is working on a broad plan, including drones and police dogs, to address concerns raised by President-elect Donald J. Trump about the shared border between the two nations, underscoring the urgency of avoiding threatened tariffs that would send its economy into meltdown. Mr. Trump has made it clear that he expects America’s neighbors to keep undocumented migrants and drugs from entering the United States. In a closely watched meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and the leaders of the country’s provinces on Wednesday, Mr. Trudeau and senior members of his government said that they would come up with measures to fortify the border. The Canadian government will flesh out details, figure out a price tag, establish a timeline and then present the plan to the incoming Trump administration before Mr. Trump’s inauguration next month, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussions, who asked not to be identified describing internal deliberations. Details of the costs of these measures will be shared on Monday, when the country’s finance minister announces an interim budget, the officials said. The measures under consideration include better controlling border crossings by deploying drones and canine units and reducing unnecessary foot traffic between the two countries, according to the two officials, who listened in on the virtual government meeting.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More