In Memory of Janusz A. Ordover

With deep sadness and heavy hearts, we share that one of our founders, Janusz A. Ordover, passed away.

Janusz Ordover was the sweetest of humans with the kindest of hearts. He combined his love for life and the people around him with the sharpest of minds. Janusz was an Emeritus Professor of Economics and a former Director of the Masters in Economics Program at New York University where he taught starting in 1973.

His articles on vertical integration, predation, access to bottleneck facilities, and the nexus of competition policy and IP rights made significant contributions to our understanding of those issues. When Janusz served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics at the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Janusz was one of the primary drafters of the 1992 Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which revolutionized how merger analysis was conducted. When the European Commission was considering creating a Chief Economist’s office, they asked Janusz to be its first head. He declined, but that request showed how significant a leading light Janusz was on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is impossible to understate Janusz’ importance to the creation of Compass Lexecon: He was Compass’ leading revenue generator in our early years. He worked on some of the largest mergers over the past few decades and some of the most important antitrust cases, such as Allied Orthopedic Appliances v. Tyco Health Group, In re Hydrogen Peroxide, and Rodney v. Northwest Airlines. For his contributions to the field of competition economics, he was named Economist of the Year by Global Competition Review in 2010 and won back-to-back Competition Economist of the Year awards from Who’s Who Legal (in 2015 and 2016). 

As Janusz pushed the boundaries of economic thought, he did so with a level of wit and charm that few could match. He served as a friend and mentor to many people – and he will be missed by all of them. In the end, Janusz was one of a kind in yet another way: No other leading competition economist regularly signed off emails to clients and friends alike with an XOXOXO, “love and kisses,” or “hugs and kisses.” 

So to borrow Janusz’ favorite sign off, love and kisses from all of us at Compass Lexecon.

In honor of Janusz, Global Competition Review has published an obituary with messages from colleagues and friends, available here.