Matthew Simmons, noted energy banker, dies at 67

Source New York Times

The death of Matthew R. Simmons, the founder of Simmons & Company International, a boutique energy investment bank, has stunned the tight-knit energy banking community. Mr. Simmons, 67, had retired from the day-to-day operations of his firm in 2005 and left the firm in June, but he was still considered a major figure in the energy banking and research world, constantly speaking out on a number of controversial topics ranging from the "peak oil" theory to BP's troubles in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Simmons died of a heart attack on Sunday at his summer home in North Haven, Me., according to The Bangor Daily News. Mr. Simmons, who once advised President George W. Bush on energy issues, was most recently the chairman and president of the Ocean Energy Institute, a research group and venture capital fund that he founded in Maine that specializes in offshore renewable energy.