NEW YORK — 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.
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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.
He is survived by his sons Henry and Matthew as well as Princess Firyal.