The Wachtell Lipton partner caught canoodling with a junior associate in Central Park is being forced out by the elite law firm after the viral smooch already cost him a lucrative move to rival Gibson Dunn, sources told The Post.
Nathaniel Cullerton, 45, is headed for the exit after spending weeks on leave while Wachtell investigated his relationship with 29-year-old associate Kelsey Borenzweig, sources with knowledge of the situation told The Post.
Another source in the know told The Post that while Cullerton is in the process of splitting with the firm, his job status has not changed since July. When asked if Cullerton was given the axe, the source insisted that it would not be accurate.
Technically, Cullerton is still employed at Wachtell and remains on leave, according to sources. The Post was unable to ascertain whether Cullerton is being paid while on leave.
Nevertheless, it’s just a matter of time before Cullerton will no longer have any affiliation with Wachtell, sources close to the situation said.
It is unclear when Cullerton’s separation from Wachtell will become official.
Wachtell, Cullerton, Borenzweig and Gibson Dunn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cullerton and Borenzweig became an overnight sensation last month after a TikTok video showed them kissing on a Central Park bench before the camera-wielding stranger interrupted them.
The fallout was swift for Cullerton, who had been preparing to leave Wachtell alongside star litigator Bill Savitt and a group of the firm’s top trial lawyers for Gibson Dunn, sources told The Post.
Gibson Dunn scrapped Cullerton’s planned hiring after the video went viral, sources with knowledge of the situation told The Post.
The issue wasn’t simply the embarrassing public spectacle, sources previously told The Post. Cullerton was a partner while Borenzweig was a more junior associate in Wachtell’s litigation department, creating a professional hierarchy between the two.
Borenzweig’s employment status at Wachtell was not immediately clear.
Cullerton’s looming exit is the latest twist in a remarkable stretch of upheaval surrounding Wachtell’s high-powered litigation department, where he and Borenzweig worked alongside lawyers who represented OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in their courtroom battle against Elon Musk.
Savitt, 63, helped lead OpenAI’s successful defense before leaving Wachtell last month with five partners — Sarah Eddy, Anitha Reddy, Randall Jackson, Ryan McLeod and Brad Wilson — for Gibson Dunn’s New York office.
Cullerton had been expected to make the jump with them before his Central Park encounter derailed the move, sources told The Post.
Savitt’s own departure has since exposed a web of personal intrigue surrounding members of the same litigation group.
The Post revealed last month that Savitt and Eddy had been romantically involved while they were partners at Wachtell.
Sources with knowledge of the situation said the relationship began after Savitt separated from his wife, interior designer Nazak Savitt. Eddy had been divorced for about a decade and was not Savitt’s subordinate, the sources said.
Wachtell had no policy prohibiting consensual relationships between colleagues, sources told The Post.
Savitt and Eddy’s relationship ended late last month around the time they left Wachtell for Gibson Dunn, sources familiar with the situation told The Post.
Savitt’s jump to Gibson Dunn also came with an extraordinary payday, according to legal sources, who told The Post that the rival firm guaranteed him $96 million over three years — roughly $32 million annually.
Savitt’s new camp has vehemently disputed that figure, with a source familiar with the situation previously telling The Post that it “isn’t even in the ballpark of close.”