‘Intensely Private’ Handler Lifts Veil in Defense of Jefferies

Richard Handler was 38 when he made his pitch: Put him in charge of Jefferies Group Inc. and he would transform the Wall Street equity-trading shop into a full-scale investment bank.

Since Handler, then a bond trader and salesman, persuaded the board in 1999 to make him chief executive officer, Jefferies has more than tripled its workforce and revenue, joining New York’s top 10 mergers-and-acquisitions advisers. He’s vaulted from highest-paid producer to biggest individual shareholder.