Raymond J. Minella WG76, 69, beloved father and friend and an influential figure on Wall Street for four decades, passed away suddenly on August 7 after suffering a pulmonary embolism. Ray helped boost Merrill Lynch into the forefront of the takeover boom of the late 1980s. He and longtime partner Jeffrey Berenson founded the merchant banking group at Merrill. Ray was a masterful capital markets specialist who was known for his innovative corporate financing structures. He was a member of the elite group that worked with KKR in connection with the acquisition of RJR Nabisco that was immortalized in the book Barbarians at the Gate. In 1990, Ray and Berenson left Merrill Lynch to create the investment banking boutique Berenson Minella & Co. In 2002, Ray joined Jefferies & Co. as managing director of capital markets origination, retiring as vice chair of the firm in 2011. He then served as an executive director and adjunct professor at Cornell Law School’s Clarke Business Law Institute. Ray was a proud father of four, an avid golfer and car collector, and at the center of a wide circle of close friends.