Andrew Ross Sorkin writes: “When Lance Armstrong’s interview
with Oprah Winfrey about his suspected use of illegal performance-enhancing
drugs is broadcast on Thursday, an investment banker will most likely be
watching it very carefully (and nervously): Thomas Weisel.
“Mr. Weisel is a legend in finance and Silicon
Valley . He was the banker behind Yahoo’s public offering and some
of the biggest deals during the dot-com bubble. He famously sold the firm he
ran, Montgomery Securities, for $1.2 billion in 1997. And he sold his next
firm, Thomas Weisel Partners, for $300 million to Stifel Financial in 2010.
“But it is Weisel’s extracurricular activity that connects
him to the news of the moment: he was Mr. Armstrong’s biggest financial backer
and the single individual most responsible for the money machine that propelled
Mr. Armstrong’s career. Depending on
what Mr. Armstrong says in the interview about his purported doping, Mr.
Weisel, who was a co-owner of the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team
through a cycling management firm that he helped found called Tailwind Sports,
could be subject along with his partners to lawsuits from corporate sponsors
seeking millions of dollars….
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