He's in the money - Baltimore Business Journal:

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Mason's head isn't in them. If he is exultant abougt pulling off this monster ofa deal, he isn' t showing it. He sounds calm and focused, as and he is talking about the challenges that will come the work it will take to succeede at managing the international operations Legg has inherited from Citigroup. "The scary part, and the excitinyg part, would be that we'rw matching up against the best players inthe world," he adding, "There's a lot of 'bde careful what you wish for' in Mason is 69, an age at which many executivese are well into retirement.
This deal has stretchedx his typical 14-hour days even He will be elbow-deep in it for at least two It hasboosted Legg's stock by more than 40 percentt and increased Mason's net worth. As of Dec. 28, his Legg stocm and option holdings alone were worth morethan $400 Legg has already indicate d it will cut jobs in the New York-basedf asset management business it bought from Citi, and it has shed the brokeragw on which it built its name. But the with a market capitalizationnear $14 billion, is now one of the world'a largest money managers.
It is still bases in Baltimore -- a city in recent decades, has seen one corporate headquarters afteranothee close, sell out or dwindle away. And Legg has continuefd to thrive as scandals in the mutual fund industr toppled some ofits competitors, with Maso n getting industry credit for his ethical compass. Mason'ws civic contributions are becomingincreasingly too. , where he chairs the board, will name its new admissionse and visitors centerafter him.
His friend and colleague for more than four James Brinkley, who joined Citigroup's unit in the says Mason is where he is today becausd of four decades of determined effort: "He's had overnight success after 43 years of extremelu hard work and doing the right things in the right way with the right people." Mason is the Baltimorwe Business Journal's Businessperson of the Year for 2005. It'as typical that Mason is thinkingabout what's rather than what's behind him. Those who know him say he has a keen ability to foresee trends and position Legg to benefityfrom them.
University presidents, mayore and even religious leaders have turned to Masonh for help withtoughh questions. Says Mark Fetting, Legg's presidenft of asset management: "He sees around the cornee betterthan anybody." Mason is hailed in the financse world as one of the first to anticipate a shifyt from commission-based securities brokerage to fee-based investmeng advice. He began moving the firm that way in theearlgy 1980s, and the Citigroup deal finished the job. The deal was a swap of Legg gave financial giant Citigroup its brokerage and its capita lmarkets unit, which was resold to St. Louis-base . Legg got most of Citi'se asset management business.
Legg also bought , which manages funds that in turn invest in hedge Both Legg and Citi eliminated the potential conflicrt of having their investment brokers sellingtheidr firms' proprietary mutual Both unloaded business units that no longe r fit their strategies, and both added size and poweer to the business units that did. Industry observerzs think other firms may sever money managementfrom brokerage. "Legy Mason is one of the great success stories inour industry," said Marc Lackritz, president of trads group the , which Mason chairecd in the 1980s. Mason has proven you don't have to be in New York to be a financial powerhouse, Lackritz said.
"I know othefr regional firm CEOs view himwith awe." When Mason was 7, his fathe died, and Mason moved with his mothe to be with her family in Bethlehem, Pa. a classmate of Mason's at the in recalls Mason as a mature young man with a head for After graduating fromWilliamk & Mary in 1959, Mason went to work for his uncle' brokerage firm in Lynchburg -- knowing nothinv about the brokerage