Ted Ammon
Encyclopedia
Robert Theodore Ammon was an American financier
and investment banker
. He was murdered by Daniel Pelosi
, the boyfriend of his estranged wife Generosa.
Ammon graduated from Bucknell University
, then followed his first wife to London, where he worked as a solicitor
. His second wife, Generosa Rand, was a realtor he met during an apartment search; they married in 1986. The couple adopted twins from the Ukraine
, Gregory and Alexa. Their five homes included two townhouses in Manhattan
and an estate in Surrey
, England
. Ammon became one of the youngest partners at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
and was involved in the RJR Nabisco
buyout earning an estimate of $50-100 million.
Ammon's marriage turned hostile after Generosa found a receipt for a divorce lawyer in his desk. They were days from finalizing their divorce
when he was found bludgeoned to death with a lamp in the East Hamptons vacation home. Because their divorce was not finalized and Ted's will had not been updated, Generosa inherited 50% of his estate, in accordance with the will, with the balance going to the Ammon Foundation. On 15 January 2002, Generosa married Pelosi, then sold the properties she had owned jointly with Ammon.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
was appointed along with Generosa as co-executor of the estate. While she and Pelosi were considered persons of interest in Ted's murder there was no evidence linking her to the murder. Ultimately, Generosa's estate inherited 50% of Ted's estate. The estate did not pass until after her death.
In the months before Ted Ammon died, he was apparently undergoing a metamorphosis. For the past year or so, he had been trying to take the long view: he’d made a bundle, and was now giving some of it, and of his time, away. In 1996, he set up the biggest-ever scholarship fund at his alma mater, Bucknell
, and he became steadily more involved with civic activities, joining the boards of the YMCA
and the Municipal Art Society
, dedicated to New York’s historic preservation.
After his death, a small group gathered in London
to remember Ammon; in December, thousands of people would attended a Manhattan memorial service in Alice Tully Hall
, the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
. Among the Wall Street
dignitaries in attendance were Henry Kravis
, head of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co, Apollo Capital chief Leon Black
, and Roger Altman
, Deputy Treasury Secretary under U.S. President Bill Clinton
. Ammon’s two children sat with the family but without their mother since, at the request of Ammon’s sister, Sandra, Generosa did not attend.
At the service, Ammon’s close friend Wynton Marsalis
honored him with a quintessential New-Orleans-style jazz send-off. Before playing the funeral march, Marsalis spoke to the congregation. “We want to know the particulars of death—it repulses us, it calls us, it fascinates us…but only the dead know the facts of death, and they never tell.”
Generosa died of breast cancer
in August 2003. She left a majority of her estate to the twins and legal guardianship of them to their nanny, Kaye Mayne. Full custody of the twins was eventually awarded to Ted's sister. Pelosi was convicted of Ted's murder in December 2004 and was sentenced to 25 years to life.
David Sutcliffe
played Ammon in the TV movie Murder in the Hamptons
(also known as "Million Dollar Murder").
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
and investment banker
Investment banking
An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...
. He was murdered by Daniel Pelosi
Daniel Pelosi
Daniel Pelosi is the convicted murderer of Wall Street financier Ted Ammon, and the widower of Generosa Ammon.- Relationship :...
, the boyfriend of his estranged wife Generosa.
Ammon graduated from Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
, then followed his first wife to London, where he worked as a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
. His second wife, Generosa Rand, was a realtor he met during an apartment search; they married in 1986. The couple adopted twins from the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Gregory and Alexa. Their five homes included two townhouses in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and an estate in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Ammon became one of the youngest partners at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
and was involved in the RJR Nabisco
RJR Nabisco
RJR Nabisco, Inc., was an American conglomerate formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. RJR Nabisco was purchased in 1988 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co...
buyout earning an estimate of $50-100 million.
Ammon's marriage turned hostile after Generosa found a receipt for a divorce lawyer in his desk. They were days from finalizing their divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
when he was found bludgeoned to death with a lamp in the East Hamptons vacation home. Because their divorce was not finalized and Ted's will had not been updated, Generosa inherited 50% of his estate, in accordance with the will, with the balance going to the Ammon Foundation. On 15 January 2002, Generosa married Pelosi, then sold the properties she had owned jointly with Ammon.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and retail. It is the largest bank in the United States by assets and market capitalization.It is a major provider of financial services, with assets of $2 trillion and according to Forbes magazine is...
was appointed along with Generosa as co-executor of the estate. While she and Pelosi were considered persons of interest in Ted's murder there was no evidence linking her to the murder. Ultimately, Generosa's estate inherited 50% of Ted's estate. The estate did not pass until after her death.
In the months before Ted Ammon died, he was apparently undergoing a metamorphosis. For the past year or so, he had been trying to take the long view: he’d made a bundle, and was now giving some of it, and of his time, away. In 1996, he set up the biggest-ever scholarship fund at his alma mater, Bucknell
Bucknell
Bucknell may refer to:*Bucknell, Oxfordshire, England*Bucknell, Shropshire, England*Bucknell, California, United States*Bucknell Ridge*Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, United States...
, and he became steadily more involved with civic activities, joining the boards of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
and the Municipal Art Society
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York, founded in 1893, is a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy in New York City....
, dedicated to New York’s historic preservation.
After his death, a small group gathered in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to remember Ammon; in December, thousands of people would attended a Manhattan memorial service in Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
, the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. JALC's performing arts complex, Frederick P. Rose Hall, is located at West 60th Street and Broadway in New York City, slightly south of the main Lincoln Center campus and directly adjacent to Columbus Circle. Frederick P....
. Among the Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
dignitaries in attendance were Henry Kravis
Henry Kravis
Henry R. Kravis is an American businessman and private equity investor. He is the co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a private equity firm with over $62 billion in assets as of 2011. He has an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion as of September 2011, ranked by Forbes as the 88th richest...
, head of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co, Apollo Capital chief Leon Black
Leon Black
Leon David Black is an American businessman and money manager, with a focus on leveraged buyouts and private equity. He is a son of Eli M. Black , a prominent businessman who controlled the United Brands Company and committed suicide when caught paying bribes to the President of Honduras...
, and Roger Altman
Roger Altman
Roger Charles Altman is an American investment banker, private equity investor and former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury who served under Bill Clinton.-Early life and career:...
, Deputy Treasury Secretary under U.S. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Ammon’s two children sat with the family but without their mother since, at the request of Ammon’s sister, Sandra, Generosa did not attend.
At the service, Ammon’s close friend Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
honored him with a quintessential New-Orleans-style jazz send-off. Before playing the funeral march, Marsalis spoke to the congregation. “We want to know the particulars of death—it repulses us, it calls us, it fascinates us…but only the dead know the facts of death, and they never tell.”
Generosa died of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in August 2003. She left a majority of her estate to the twins and legal guardianship of them to their nanny, Kaye Mayne. Full custody of the twins was eventually awarded to Ted's sister. Pelosi was convicted of Ted's murder in December 2004 and was sentenced to 25 years to life.
David Sutcliffe
David Sutcliffe
David Sutcliffe is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Christopher Hayden, Rory Gilmore's father and Lorelai Gilmore's on-and-off boyfriend, on the CW show Gilmore Girls....
played Ammon in the TV movie Murder in the Hamptons
Murder in the Hamptons
Murder in the Hamptons is a true story made for TV movie, based on the events leading to the murder of multi-millionaire Ted Ammon and the conviction of Ammon's estranged wife's lover Daniel Pelosi.-Plot:...
(also known as "Million Dollar Murder").
External links
- http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20135757,00.html – People Magazine
- Murder in East Hampton Vanity Fair January 2002
- Mystery of the Murdered Millionaire Dateline NBCDateline NBCDateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
- The War for Ted Ammon's Children New York Magazine 7 July 2003
- http://www.russbaker.com/archives/Gotham%20Magazine%20-%20article.htm
- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/10/48hours/main599465.shtml
- http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/26/pelosi/index.html
- http://web.archive.org/web/20080202144005/http://wcbstv.com/topstories/danny.pelosi.ted.2.643060.html
- http://www.amazon.com/Almost-Paradise-Hampton-Murder-Ammon/dp/0312340230
- http://realestalker.blogspot.com/2007/12/ammon-house-in-east-hampton.html
- http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/columns/courtside/10363/ – Nymag
- http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_42/b3854107_mz020.htm
- http://www.kierancrowley.com/NewsDetail.asp?id=10
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1138901.ece