A mentor to some of Wall Street's biggest names has died-here's what he taught them

He was 71.

Since 2009, the billionaire investor and entrepreneur had been battling progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)-a fatal, fast-moving, degenerative brain disease.

Rainwater, the son of a Fort Worth grocer, was born on June 15, 1944. He graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in mathematics. He received his MBA from Stanford.

He began his career as an investment banker before getting an offer from a classmate, Sid Bass, to manage the Bass family portfolio. There, he made a fortune and became known for his Disney deal in 1984 that helped turn around the company.

He left Bass Enterprises in 1986 and went on to later found and cofound a number of companies including, ENSCO International, Columbia Hospital Corporation, Mid Ocean Limited, and Crescent Real Estate Equities, according to his bio.

Rainwater had an estimated net worth of $3 billion. He was also a part-owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. He was a big philanthropist, having donated $265 million to charitable organizations.

Rainwater was also a mentor many of the industry's biggest players, including Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital; Eddie Lampert, founder of ESL Partners and chairman of Sears Holdings; Barry Volpert, cofounder of Crestview; Daniel Stern, founder of Reservoir Capital Group, John Phelan, cofounder of MSD Capital; John Goff of Crescent Real Estate Holdings; Ken Hersh, CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management; John Scully, founder of SPO Partners; and David Bonderman of TPG Capital.

In 2012, CNBC hosted a special edition of "Squawk Box" to pay tribute to Rainwater. The titans shared a number of anecdotes about their mentor. We've included them below.