Louis Wolfson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Wilson pictured by Bert Morgan at Hialeah Race Track, 1958 | |
| Born | (1912-01-28)January 28, 1912 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | December 30, 2007(2007-12-30) (aged 95) Bal Harbour, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | University of Georgia |
| Spouse(s) | Florence Monsky (until her death) Patrice Jacobs (until his death) |
| Children | 4, includingMartin |
Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an Americanfinancier, a convictedfelon, and one of the first moderncorporate raiders, labeled byTime as such in a 1956 article.[1] A self-made millionaire by 28, Wolfson is credited with creating the modernhostiletender offer, which laid the technical framework to theleveraged buyout. In later years, he was a majorthoroughbred horse racing participant as the owner and breeder of 1978American Triple Crown winner,Affirmed.
Wolfson was frequently in trouble with the law. In 1957, theUnited States Securities and Exchange Commission ordered a ten-day suspension of trading in stock in a company Wolfson held "to prevent fraudulent and manipulative practices". In 1967, he was convicted of selling unregistered shares and obstruction of justice, for which he served nine months in a federal prison. The conviction eventually led to a scandal involvingSupreme Court JusticeAbe Fortas, who resigned in 1969 after returning a $20,000 retainer to a Wolfson foundation.[2][3][4] In 1971, Wolfson was involved in a contentious legal battle with radio hostLarry King overmonies Wolfson supplied and King allegedly pocketed. Later King claimed Wolfson paid him $48,500 to influence PresidentRichard Nixon's incoming U.S. Attorney General,John N. Mitchell, into reviewing Wolfson's past conviction.[5][6]
Wolfson was born inSt. Louis,Missouri,[7] but his family moved toJacksonville, Florida, when he was one year old.[8]
The child ofJewish immigrants fromLithuania, Wolfson and his seven siblings grew up in Jacksonville, where his father was a junk man/scrap metal dealer.[5]In his teens, heboxed professionally under the name "Kid Wolf", earning from $25 to $100 per fight. Wolfson was an outstandingathlete and an All-Southernend for Jacksonville'sAndrew Jackson High School, who went to theUniversity of Georgia to play football. He left the university after two years, never graduating.
After dropping out of college, he raised $10,000 to start in business: half from a wealthy Georgia football fan,Harold Hirsch, and half from his family.
He started the Florida Pipe and Supply Company to trade in building materials. Within a few years, he built this into a successful large business and was a millionaire at age 28.
In 1949, Wolfson purchased theCapital Transit Company from theNorth American Company for $2 million. Capital Transit held the streetcar and bus service franchise forWashington, D.C.; it had been managed conservatively and beyond its physical assets had a $7 million cash reserve.[how?] When the company disbursed $3 million in dividends to shareholders, the government revoked Capital Transit's right to operate, and Wolfson sold his shares for $13.5 million.
A 1951 takeover ofMerritt-Chapman & Scott made Wolfson Chairman and CEO of the marine construction and salvage firm, but Wolfson expanded the company intoshipbuilding, chemicals, and money lending, becoming one of the firstconglomerates.[9] The corporation won numerous multimillion-dollar contracts for high-profile projects, including theGlen Canyon Dam in Arizona, theUnited States NavysupercarrierKitty Hawk and theMackinac Bridge that linked Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas. Wolfson became nationally known in 1955, when he unsuccessfully attempted ahostile takeover ofMontgomery Ward and Co.
His Universal Marion Co. owned theMiami Beach Sun and theJacksonville Chronicle newspapers and made movies through a subsidiary. The firm co-financed the production ofMel Brooks' first movie,The Producers, which won anOscar and later became a majorBroadway play.[10] The building now known as theJEA Tower in Jacksonville was called the Universal-Marion Building when the firm was the largest tenant.At its peak, his industrial and commercial empire had total assets estimated at a quarter of a billion dollars.[7]
As chairman of the Wolfson Family Foundation for 35 years until the late 1980s, Wolfson directed much of the foundation's gifts to Jacksonville, Florida's medical, educational, research and religious charitable entities. Louis's father, Morris David Wolfson, began the philanthropy with a gift of $500,000 in 1946 to createWolfson Children's Hospital.[11] Other gifts included theWolfson Student Center atJacksonville University, theRiver Garden/Wolfson Health and Aging Center and theLouis E. Wolfson Wellness Center atBaptist Medical Center Downtown.[12]
Louis Wolfson worked to honor the memory of his older brother, Sam. The Duval County School Board namedSamuel W. Wolfson High School after his brother and the Wolfson family funded construction ofSam W. Wolfson Baseball Park, the minor-league baseball facility in Jacksonville for decades until theBaseball Grounds of Jacksonville was built in 2002-3.[8]
In November 1957, Louis Wolfson sold a trailer company controlled by one of his interests to Detroit's Trans Continental Industries. His longtime friend, David Charnay, was chairman prior to Charnay's purchase and global modernization ofFour Star International.[13] The trailer company became Trans Continental's chief asset. Upon reviewing the sale from Louis Wolfson to David Charnay, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered a ten-day suspension of trading in Trans Continental stock on the American and Detroit stock exchanges, based upon a conjectured and speculative reason: "To prevent fraudulent and manipulative practices".[14]
Wolfson started a charitable foundation, which in 1966 paidSupreme Court Justice and Wolfson friendAbe Fortas a $20,000 lifetime annual retainer for unspecified consultation. Researchers suspect this sum may have represented an attempted bribery to secure Fortas's assistance with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wolfson had appealed his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court had refused to review his conviction and Fortas did not participate in that decision, it was viewed as an attempt to buy his way out of a conviction. Controversy surrounded Fortas and he returned the $20,000 retainer and ultimately resigned from the Supreme Court in 1969.[9]
In 1967, Wolfson was convicted on charges stemming from stock sales. The conviction arose when Wolfson sold unregistered shares in Continental Enterprises, Inc. to the public.[15] Wolfson controlled Continental Enterprises, an unlisted company which was a Florida-based real-estate and movie theater business with numerous other holdings. He never denied the charges but argued that the law was misapplied in his case. The second conviction was for charges ofperjury andobstruction of justice during aU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Merritt-Chapman.[16] He served nine months at theFederal Bureau of PrisonsFederal Prison Camp, Eglin,Eglin Air Force Base.[17] He also paid a substantial fine.[18]
In 1971, Wolfson filed a complaint againstLarry King—then a Miami radio host, later aCNN personality—for allegedly pocketing $5,000, part of a $25,000 payment destined for New Orleans District AttorneyJim Garrison, who was investigating PresidentJohn F. Kennedy's assassination. King was arrested for grand larceny, but the original criminal charges were dismissed as thestatute of limitations had elapsed. While a judge subsequently threw out the charge, King pled no contest to one count of passing bad checks.[19][20] King was fired fromWIOD after Wolfson wrote to TV and radio executives at WTVJ and WIOD claiming that King was "a menace to the public" and that his employers should pay for King's "treatment in a mental institution for six months so he can do no further harm in this community or any other."
After his incarceration, Wolfson became aprison reform advocate. He toldTheMiami Herald in 1971 that he had watched sadistic wardens and guards "contribute to the increase of crime. ...The medical attention was unbelievably bad. There was absolutely no uniform sentencing. ...Officials may say rehabilitation exists, but I assure you it doesn't."
As a result of his efforts, the SEC began making hearing transcripts and testimony more available, and the U.S. Senate considered changing federal penal code to eliminate harsh sentences for first-time offenders.
"It was a horrible 10 months and it ruined his life and changed him forever", his son said. "If you ever said the wordjudge, he'd bring out a stack of papers to prove how he was falsely charged for ulterior political motives."[5]
In 1960, he established Harbor View Farm inFellowship,Marion County,Florida. He raced a number of successful thoroughbred horses including 1963 co-champion 2-year-old maleRaise a Native, and 1965Horse of the Year,Roman Brother.
ChampionHail to Reason, bred by Bieber-Jacobs Stable had raced in the name of Patrice Jacobs, his second wife. Together, in the name of Harbor View, they bred and raced the 1978American Triple Crown winnerAffirmed. Affirmed was votedHorse of the Year twice, in 1978 and 1979, and also was champion at 2 in 1977, at 3 in 1978, and at 4 in 1979.[9]The Wolfsons' stable led allNorth American owners in money earned in 1978, 1979, and 1980 and was theEclipse Award winners as top breeder in 1978.
Additionally, two of Wolfson sons, Steve and Gary, bredIt's In The Air,American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in 1978, in the name of Happy Valley Farm.[9]
Wolfson tried to buyLouisville'sChurchill Downs—home of theKentucky Derby—for $46.1 million in 1985, but was unsuccessful.
In 1992, Louis Wolfson was inducted into theHorsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association Hall of Fame.His second and final marriage was to Patrice Jacobs, daughter of Hall of Fame trainerHirsch Jacobs andEthel D. Jacobs.
Wolfson married twice. His first wife, Florence Monsky, died in 1968 from cancer.[21] His second wife was Patrice Jacobs, to whom he remained married until his death.[22] At the age of 95, Wolfson succumbed toAlzheimer's disease andcolon cancer, dying on December 30, 2007, his 35th wedding anniversary, inBal Harbour, Florida.[8][9] He had four children, including sonMarty.