Larry Feinberg , a former Odyssey executive and the founder of Oracle Partners: “Leon would get so engrossed in economics, charts and books that his secretary had to have a fire extinguisher ready because he would dump his pipe ashes and start a fire every day. He was a brilliant economist and idea guy. He would ask, ‘What is the trend? How do we get there before anyone else?’ He was great at being early. He and Nash hired people like me. They didn’t know if I could make money. Their ability to judge people was spectacular. Within ten minutes they had their minds made up about you and had you well pegged.”
Stephen Berger , chairman of Odyssey Investment Partners, a successor firm to Odyssey Partners: “Leon had a reputation of being out of planetary, always thinking in very big concepts. But he was as hard-nosed as anyone. He was also brutally honest and a clear thinker. He had a long time horizon but was also very clear about the present. He could be wrong on timing, but seldom on the trends. He was also attuned to the whole psychology of what was happening in the world, to people and to patterns. He was always asking about patterns. Leon also never forgot a company he had looked at.”
Shelby White , Levy’s widow: “I most admired his brain and his ability to focus and think abstractly and long term. Leon and Jack always went for the smartest people. They were more about ideas than strategies. Leon’s decisions were always based on his view of the economy. He had an ability to wait patiently. He saw Chapter 11 railroad bonds as a real estate play well before others started to think about them that way.” -
Jeffrey Gendell , founder of Tontine Partners and a former Odyssey portfolio manager: “Leon was always trying to find the next big idea before anyone else. He would say, ‘We need to find an idea that can make us half a billion dollars. There’s got to be some new ways, new technology.’ He was always negative on the economy, always thought things were worse than they were. But he still figured someone had to be doing something right. There was always something out there.”
J. Ezra Merkin , longtime friend and managing partner of Gabriel Capital Group: “In remembering our times together, I have to remind myself that he was almost 30 years my senior, because Leon treated me as a complete equal. This was, perhaps, the most unusual quality of his capacity for friendship: his ability to treat as an equal partner someone younger, less experienced and much less wise — as someone to be consulted, informed, questioned, depended on, disagreed with, berated, scolded and praised without any ulterior motive. This capacity emanated, I think, from Leon’s innate honesty. He simply took people as they were, and if it made sense to treat a generation-younger junior as an equal, that is precisely what he would do.”
— Interviews by Stephen Taub