Longtime Bell Nunnally corporate and M&A partner Ray Balestri died earlier this month at the age of 64.
A Dallas entrepreneur, investor, adjunct professor and lawyer with four decades of experience, Mr. Balestri was known nationwide as a dynamic dealmaker, whether representing companies that needed seed money or advising on multibillion-dollar mergers.
“Many of the largest transactions in Bell Nunnally’s history were led by Ray,” said Bell Nunnally Managing Partner Christopher Trowbridge in a news release on Thursday. “His footprints in the corporate and M&A world have heightened the prestige and global significance of deals in Dallas and across Texas.”
Trowbridge noted that Mr. Balestri, who died on Jan. 4, dedicated a significant amount of time to mentoring young attorneys and other professionals while always delivering for the firm’s clients. Mr. Balestri also brought his years of dealmaking and investing experience to SMU’s Cox School of Business, where he served for 25 years as an adjunct professor, teaching an MBA course.
“Ray was extraordinary in his ability to combine the sharpest legal analysis with savvy business strategy to achieve the client’s goals. Ray was truly one-of-a-kind — with sophisticated wit, a mastery of words and prose and impeccable style. He maintained a keen interest in humanity, politics and the world around us,” said Trowbridge. “Ray always had an informed opinion and was not afraid to offer criticism or praise — and it was always presented in a professional but often bold and entertaining manner.”
A 1982 graduate of the University of Illinois, Mr. Balestri received his law degree from Harvard University in 1985. An avid writer, he penned a number of notable columns for D Magazine under the pseudonym Marty Cortland — a reference to Hollywood Walk of Fame humorist Robert Benchley’s character in You’ll Never Get Rich — as well as frequent letters to the editor of The Wall Street Journal.
“Ray was a treasured friend and colleague to all of us at the firm, and this is a terrible and sudden loss of a brilliant, funny and charismatic man. We will deeply miss him. Ray will always remain a part of who Bell Nunnally is as a firm,” said Trowbridge.
Mr. Balestri is survived by his wife, Heather, and two sons, Quentin and Julian, as well as his sister, Becky, and brothers David and Brian.