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Louis Wolfson
Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American financier, a convicted felon, and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by Time as such in a 1956 article. A self-made millionaire by 28, Wolfson is credited with creating the modern hostile tender offer, which laid the technical framework to the leveraged buyout. In later years, he was a major thoroughbred horse racing participant as the owner and breeder of 1978 American Triple Crown winner, Affirmed.
Wolfson was frequently in trouble with the law. In 1957, the United 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 involving Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, who resigned in 1969 after returning a $20,000 retainer to a Wolfson foundation. In 1971, Wolfson was involved in a contentious legal battle with radio host Larry King over monies Wolfson supplied and King allegedly pocketed. Later King claimed Wolfson paid him $48,500 to influence President Richard Nixon's incoming U.S. Attorney General, John N. Mitchell, into reviewing Wolfson's past conviction.
Wolfson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, when he was one year old.
The child of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, Wolfson and his seven siblings grew up in Jacksonville, where his father was a junk man/scrap metal dealer. In his teens, he boxed professionally under the name "Kid Wolf", earning from $25 to $100 per fight. Wolfson was an outstanding athlete and an All-Southern end for Jacksonville's Andrew Jackson High School, who went to the University 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 the Capital Transit Company from the North American Company for $2 million. Capital Transit held the streetcar and bus service franchise for Washington, 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 of Merritt-Chapman & Scott made Wolfson Chairman and CEO of the marine construction and salvage firm, but Wolfson expanded the company into shipbuilding, chemicals, and money lending, becoming one of the first conglomerates. The corporation won numerous multimillion-dollar contracts for high-profile projects, including the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, the United States Navy supercarrier Kitty Hawk and the Mackinac Bridge that linked Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas. Wolfson became nationally known in 1955, when he unsuccessfully attempted a hostile takeover of Montgomery Ward and Co.
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Louis Wolfson
Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American financier, a convicted felon, and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by Time as such in a 1956 article. A self-made millionaire by 28, Wolfson is credited with creating the modern hostile tender offer, which laid the technical framework to the leveraged buyout. In later years, he was a major thoroughbred horse racing participant as the owner and breeder of 1978 American Triple Crown winner, Affirmed.
Wolfson was frequently in trouble with the law. In 1957, the United 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 involving Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, who resigned in 1969 after returning a $20,000 retainer to a Wolfson foundation. In 1971, Wolfson was involved in a contentious legal battle with radio host Larry King over monies Wolfson supplied and King allegedly pocketed. Later King claimed Wolfson paid him $48,500 to influence President Richard Nixon's incoming U.S. Attorney General, John N. Mitchell, into reviewing Wolfson's past conviction.
Wolfson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, when he was one year old.
The child of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, Wolfson and his seven siblings grew up in Jacksonville, where his father was a junk man/scrap metal dealer. In his teens, he boxed professionally under the name "Kid Wolf", earning from $25 to $100 per fight. Wolfson was an outstanding athlete and an All-Southern end for Jacksonville's Andrew Jackson High School, who went to the University 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 the Capital Transit Company from the North American Company for $2 million. Capital Transit held the streetcar and bus service franchise for Washington, 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 of Merritt-Chapman & Scott made Wolfson Chairman and CEO of the marine construction and salvage firm, but Wolfson expanded the company into shipbuilding, chemicals, and money lending, becoming one of the first conglomerates. The corporation won numerous multimillion-dollar contracts for high-profile projects, including the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, the United States Navy supercarrier Kitty Hawk and the Mackinac Bridge that linked Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas. Wolfson became nationally known in 1955, when he unsuccessfully attempted a hostile takeover of Montgomery Ward and Co.