Lipper comeback has happy ending.

Kenneth kipper has had a distinguished career of uncommon diversity, finding success in the ultra competitive worlds of finance, politics and moviemaking. But if you heard him chat about farm equipment, you might never have guessed.

On the board of directors at New Holland Ag, a European manufacturer of tractors and harvesting machines, Lipper can speak with such a labyrinthine knowledge of the business's tight margins, its most competitive product segments, and the best opportunities for growth, one could easily be persuaded into thinking that he had spent his time solely in agriculture.

This, of course, has been Lipper's greatest ability, to become an expert--often quickly--in an array of industries by identifying in them the components that are universal to business and which, by nature of his background, he has consequently had ample experience with.

"I find I'll get into something new and it's learning the vocabulary that is the toughest part," kipper said. "Most of the time I'll realize that I've dealt with all the things that they're talking about, it's just that they call it a different name."

Sure enough, Lipper displays the same depth of understanding for real estate, a sector he has been in for little over a year. Recruited by longtime friend and Cushman & Wakefield CEO, Bruce Mosler, to join the firm as an executive vice president--a lofty title reserved for the firm's top personnel--Lipper has already made an impressive contribution, working to expand the company's presence in the Middle East, oversee a major overhaul of its property management software, and institute internal education programs in the company to better inform its professionals in the capabilities of the company's many service lines.

Add to that the leasing and appraisal business he has secured and Lipper's first year in a business known for being challenging to newcomers has been nothing short of remarkable.

Given the tumult Lipper has had to deal with in recent years, his success does more than just add another chapter to an already storied career. It has perhaps initiated what could only be called a sublime comeback.

Lipper's professional life seems comprised of what could easily be the individual high points in a collection of careers. He was a partner at Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers, a deputy mayor of New York City under mayor Ed Koch, a Hollywood screenwriter and producer, and the head of his own securities empire, Lipper & Co. which managed a multibillion-dollar convertible arbitrage fund for a group of investors that included a cast of celebrities, business tycoons and political figures.

Lipper, it seemed, was the high-flying Renaissance man with an uncanny ability to excel at seemingly whatever pursuit he ventured to undertake. But then in 2002, he was dealt a blow so dramatic, it seemed like an event borrowed from the plotline of one of his movies. The value of a $4 billion fund his firm managed was revealed to have been overstated and had, in fact, suffered significant loses. Accusations of fraud and mismanagement were leveled, lawsuits swirled, investigations were launched, and Lipper's career, despite all its brilliance, seemed on the verge of suddenly being overshadowed by scandal.

The way Lipper describes it, the downfall of his hedge fund was as shocking to him as it was to investors, the result of what he said was a devastating betrayal by a duplicitous money manager Lipper had trusted but who insidiously mishandled the fund and masked its decline. Although Lipper didn't name him, the man he is referring to is Edward J. Strafaci, one of the firm's fund managers who was sentenced to securities fraud in 2004 for his role in the debacle.

In the investigation that followed the fund's dissolution, Lipper was vindicated of any wrongdoing, but that didn't prevent many of his investors from launching lawsuits against him and also PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was blamed by many of those who lost money, and by even Lipper himself, for not identifying incorrect valuations of the fund during its audits of the firm--a discovery that Lipper said would have revealed the fund's problems well before they had caused such disastrous consequences.

Even after the debacle had quieted down, it wasn't as if Lipper could just move on to another securities firm. Regardless of his culpability, his reputation, especially in the financial world, had taken a hit. So Lipper said he decided to dedicate himself to moviemaking full time.

One of his initial experiences in the movie business had been when he was tapped to serve as a consultant for the film Wall Street in 1987, an assignment for which he was well suited considering his knowledge of the Manhattan securities industry. It wouldn't be the only time that Lipper was able to mine creative material from his career experiences.

Writing during his time off on the weekends, he penned the screenplay for City Hall, whose story centers on the hidden intrigues and shadowy allegiances a deputy mayor uncovers in the city while investigating a deadly gunfight--drawing heavily from his three years as the city's deputy mayor. Securing Al Pacino, John Cusack and Bridget Fonda as leads, Lipper produced the film in 1996, which drew praise for its gritty and insightful portrayal of New York City politics and government.

After City Hall, Lipper went on to co-produce with Steven Spielberg the 1999 holocaust documentary The Last Days, for which he received an Academy Award for best documentary feature. Lipper had always treated his screenwriting and much of his entertainment business dealings in general as an escape from the full-time jobs he had had in finance and politics.

But when moviemaking suddenly became his sole focus, Lipper said he soon began to miss not having a separate professional life from which he could draw material and inspiration.

"I took time off, I thought I'd have more time for film," Lipper said. "But I felt like I was just sitting around. It turned out I needed action for new ideas."

It was around this time that C&W president and CEO Bruce Mosler, an old friend of Lipper's, approached him. Lipper had never worked in real estate exclusively, although as deputy mayor he had been involved in and helped negotiate numerous development deals in the city. Of course, it was his business acumen, wide breadth of experience and extensive contacts that Mosler was seeking to tap in recruiting him for a position where his main function would be business development.

"He bought a stock that was down in value," Lipper said of Mosler's job offer. "He believed in me and I think that it has paid off for him, for the firm and, of course, for me. It's great to be part of a team again."

Lipper has also leveraged his connections to help win leasing and valuation business. Although he couldn't be specific about the deals he was working on because he had signed confidentiality agreements with his clients, Lipper said they helped him realize how the use of one service line often results in the use of another and how that natural progression could be better utilized to further grow the firm's business.

"When you're a big firm and you have a lot of different service abilities what can happen is that your clients will use a handful of your services and not the others because they don't know about them, or they think someone else does those services better," Lipper said. "One of the big things we focused on at Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers was getting clients to expand their use of our different service lines."

To aid this effort, Lipper said that he is championing the establishment of comprehensive internal education programs to give the firm's various professionals a deeper knowledge of the industry's different service lines, from finance to appraisal to brokerage, so that they are armed with the knowledge to better take advantage of business opportunities and introduce clients to more of the firm's services.

As Lipper's role at C&W has taken on a diversity in line with his previous careers, so too have other facets of Lipper's life seemingly returned to normalcy from the tumult of a few years ago.

He says that he is back to working on film production in his spare time. He was recently honored by the Governor's Committee on Scholastic Achievement, on whose board he serves as a member, for his work helping to provide financial support and scholarships for students in the city who are gifted but financially underprivileged. Held at the Pierre Hotel, the event drew a who's who list of New York politicians as well as prominent members of the city's real estate industry who all gave their congratulations to a beaming Lipper.

"Being happy, that's the biggest challenge," Lipper said. "I'm a guy who's climbed mountains and fallen off cliffs. But right now feeling helpful makes me happy. If I can help someone who needs help I feel good about it, which is why I keep busy with things like the Governor's Committee on Scholastic Achievement. I'm enjoying working at Cushman & Wakefield, working with Bruce. I'm in a great place right now."