Founder Of Warburg Pincus Dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Lionel Pincus, founder and chairman of New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has died, according to a spokesman for his longtime partner, Princess Firyal of Jordan. He was 78.

Pincus died around midnight Saturday in his Manhattan home after a long illness, the spokesman said.

Pincus founded Warburg Pincus in 1966. Since then the firm has invested more than $29 billion in more than 600 companies.

It holds stakes in a variety of companies including Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which processes financial transactions; Nuance Communications Inc., which makes speech recognition software; educational company Bridgepoint Education Inc., and drug developer Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Before founding Warburg Pincus, he was a partner of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. He was also a founding director of the National Venture Capital Association and is Chair Emeritus of the Trustees of Columbia University and a member of the Columbia Business School Board of Overseers.

He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and held an M.B.A. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.