Sean M. Healey, who was founding principal, executive co-chairman and former CEO of Affiliated Managers Group, has died after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the company announced Wednesday.
Mr. Healey joined AMG in 1995 as a founding principal and went on to serve as chief executive officer of the company from 2005 to 2018.
He was named chairman of the board in 2010, and upon being diagnosed with ALS in May 2018, stepped down from the CEO post and became executive chairman of the board, the news release said.
Mr. Healey died Tuesday at the age of 59. He is survived by his wife and three children, a company spokesman confirmed.
“For the past 27 years Sean was my friend, mentor and an inimitable leader, always exhibiting an indefatigable entrepreneurial spirit and unwavering dedication to friends, colleagues and Affiliate partners,” Jay C. Horgen, president and CEO of AMG, said in a statement in the news release.
“His deep intellectual curiosity and creativity, delivered with a penetrating wit, were inspiring and created tremendous value for AMG stakeholders over the decades. Sean transformed AMG from a nascent start-up into a leading global asset manager with an innovative partnership approach and unmatched track record of partnerships, providing solutions for independent, partner-owned investment firms from growth capital, to strategic support initiatives such as marketing and distribution, to succession planning – all while preserving their entrepreneurial spirit and culture,” Mr. Horgen said.
Patrick T. Ryan, who is now chairman of the board of directors, said of Mr. Healey that his “passion, creativity and dedication extended far beyond his work at AMG; he was a devoted philanthropist, father and husband. When he was diagnosed with ALS, Sean did not miss a beat, channeling his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit into establishing The Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, which, typical of all of Sean’s work, has become an innovative force in medical treatment and is transforming therapeutic approaches for people affected by ALS. His friendship and leadership will be deeply missed, and our thoughts are with his family.”
Mr. Healey was integral in expanding AMG from a few affiliates to dozens, and under his leadership the firm’s assets since its IPO grew from nearly $40 billion to over $600 billion, while EBITDA grew from less than $50 million to over $750 million, the release said.
In November 2018, he helped establish the Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital, which has raised more than $40 million to date.
