Selected as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” by Crain’s New York Business magazine, Richard Lukaj remains one of the youngest senior managing directors in the history of Wall Street investment banking.
Born in a refugee camp in Italy during his parents flee from Communism and poverty, Lukaj knows only too well how fortunate he is. The eldest of three children, raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side and on the tough streets of Brooklyn, this son of Albanian immigrants did not even speak English when he first entered the public school system. Although his father’s only advice to him as a youth was try to make at least $500 a week and stay out of trouble, his natural ability for science and mathematics soon placed him at Brooklyn Technical High School where he graduated 7th in his class.
When not in school or studying, Lukaj worked a number of odd jobs to help the family make ends meet — everything from restaurant work to selling men’s suits door-to-door. Then, by chance, a math teacher and New York real estate developer, helped him land a part-time internship at a title insurance company where Lukaj had his first real taste of the business world — and knew that was where his future lie.
Upon completion of high school and at the advice of a successful mentor, he decided to leverage his technical skills and pursue a focused business career. This made Lukaj the first of his immediate family to go on to college, graduating at the top of his class in 1991 from New York University with a degree in finance and economics.

His impressive rise to the top at Bear Stearns was quickly achieved with an unprecedented “triple jump” by skipping over two titles, landing at the top as Senior Managing Director, all in one fell swoop — and with a compensation package to match. Heading the emerging telecommunications practice at Bear Stearns, Lukaj executed transactions ranging from mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, exclusive sales, underwriting of debt, equity and derivative securities, and acted as a financial advisor to leading industry players around the globe. Without a doubt, Lukaj has contributed significantly to Bear Stearns development as one of the strongest investment banking franchises on Wall Street.
Lukaj is currently on sabbatical, spending some well-deserved leisure time with family and friends, and an occasional round of golf. Lukaj and wife, Viosa, enjoy the quiet life in the sleepy New England town of Greenwich with their young daughter, Zana, while they contemplate the next chapter in their lives. It all seems worlds away from the hectic, pressured daily grind of Wall Street when Lukaj gets to head down the driveway of his five-acre property, formerly owned by rock star Huey Lewis. This stunning Mediterranean villa is reminiscent of those the Albanian monarchs lived in over 100 years ago — a very long way from those not-long-forgotten, early days of sharing a crowded, one-bedroom tenement apartment with his family of five.
His commitment to humanitarian causes continues to be a driving force in his life. With strong ties and family remaining in the Balkans, as Honorary Counsel to the nation of Albania, he met with former President Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Holbrooke during the Kosovo crisis, and sits on the board of the Albanian American Cultural Foundation which creates scholarship and education forums for first-generation Albanian Americans. In addition, he continues to work with such organizations as Hands of Hope, the Bowery Fund, the International Rescue Committee, AmeriCares, Boy Scouts of America and as a David Rockefeller Fellow for the City of New York and active participant of the New York City Partnership.
When asked for his underlying secret to success, Lukaj smiles, “Surround yourself with people you can trust, maximize your ideas and dare to dream.” It is a premise that has clearly brought him down the right road.

Autor / Kaya Morgan