Edward H Linde

Founder of one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the nation — and the behind-the-scenes partner of Mortimer B. Zuckerman. Mr. Linde (pronounced Lindy) and Mr. Zuckerman, the owner of The Daily News and U.S. News & World Report, were colleagues at Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, a commercial real estate company in the Boston area founded in 1904, when they struck out on their own. Today, Boston Properties, which has focused primarily on acquiring or constructing Class A office buildings, owns 146 properties with more than 49 million square feet of space in four major markets: Boston, New York, Washington and San Francisco. Mr. Linde was chief executive of the company. He was also president until 2007, when his son, Douglas, became president. Mr. Zuckerman is chairman of the board. In 1997 Mr. Linde led the transition of Boston Properties from a privately held company to what is known as real estate investment trust, a public company required to distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to its shareholders each year. Born in Brooklyn on June 22, 1941, Mr. Linde was a son of Irving and Dorothy Linde. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1962 with a degree in civil engineering. Two years later he received a master’s degree from the Harvard School of Business. During his sophomore year at M.I.T., Mr. Linde met Joyce Goldfine; they married in 1962. Besides his wife and his son, Mr. Linde is survived by his daughter, Karen Packman; his brother, Richard; and five grandchildren. Among Mr. Linde’s many civic activities, he had been chairman of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2005 and was a member of the M.I.T. Corporation from 1990 to 1995.