Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Biondi, a veteran corporate takeover adviser who most recently served as Lazard Ltd.'s co- chairman of investment banking, died last night. He was 50.

Biondi died at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to a memo distributed to Lazard employees today by Bruce Wasserstein, the firm's chairman and chief executive officer.

``Mike was one of the good guys and all of our lives are diminished without him,'' Wasserstein said in the memo. He didn't state the cause of death.

Biondi's career has closely tracked Wasserstein's since the 1980s, when the two worked together in mergers and acquisitions at First Boston, now part of Credit Suisse Group. Biondi was among the group of bankers who left First Boston to found Wasserstein Perella & Co. in 1988. He was CEO of the New York- based firm before its sale to Germany's Dresdner Bank AG in 2000. In 2003, Biondi joined Wasserstein at Lazard.

``Mike always called it the way he saw it,'' said Joseph Perella, now chairman of Perella Weinberg Partners LP in New York. ``He was the highest-quality person you could hope to work with and know.''

Biondi and Wasserstein advised billionaire investor Carl Icahn in his effort to boost Time Warner Inc.'s share price by breaking up the company. In January 2006, Icahn also recruited Biondi's brother, former Viacom Inc. CEO Frank Biondi, as a successor to Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons under a plan that Icahn and Lazard presented to shareholders. The plan didn't win enough investor support and Parsons remained in charge.

`Top of His Game'

``He was the greatest little brother, who passed through all of his worlds with great grace, presence and remarkable insights,'' Frank Biondi, 62, said today. ``He was a great dad, husband and brother. He was at the top of his game as an investment banker and a leader in his community.''

Before First Boston, Biondi was a lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He studied at Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania, where he got a law degree and a master's in business administration.

He played baseball for Dartmouth and went on to become a trustee of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, the parent organization for the U.S. skiing and snowboarding teams.

Biondi is survived by his wife, Cynthia; four sons, Michael Jr., James, William, and Cameron; and two brothers, Frank and Robert.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 13, 2007 18:41 EST