Louis Wolfson
Louis Wolfson | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | December 30, 2007 Bal Harbour, Florida, U.S. | (aged 95)
Education | University of Georgia |
Spouse(s) | Florence Monsky (until her death) Patrice Jacobs (until his death) |
Children | 4, including Martin |
Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American
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
Early life
Wolfson was born in St. Louis, Missouri,[7] but his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, when he was one year old.[8]
The child of
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.
Financier
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
A 1951 takeover of
His Universal Marion Co. owned the Miami Beach Sun and the Jacksonville Chronicle newspapers and made movies through a subsidiary. The firm co-financed the production of
The building now known as the JEA 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]Philanthropy
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 create Wolfson Children's Hospital.[11] Other gifts included the Wolfson Student Center at Jacksonville University, the River Garden/Wolfson Health and Aging Center and the Louis E. Wolfson Wellness Center at Baptist Medical Center Downtown.[12]
Louis Wolfson worked to honor the memory of his older brother, Sam. The Duval County School Board named
Legal and political controversies
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 of Four 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 paid Supreme Court Justice and Wolfson friend Abe 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 of perjury and obstruction of justice during a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Merritt-Chapman.[16] He served nine months at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Federal Prison Camp, Eglin, Eglin Air Force Base.[17] He also paid a substantial fine.[18]
In 1971, Wolfson filed a complaint against Larry King—then a Miami radio host, later a CNN personality—for allegedly pocketing $5,000, part of a $25,000 payment destined for New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who was investigating President John F. Kennedy's assassination. King was arrested for grand larceny, but the original criminal charges were dismissed as the statute 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 from WIOD 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."
Criminal justice activism
After his incarceration, Wolfson became a prison reform advocate. He told The Miami 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 word judge, he'd bring out a stack of papers to prove how he was falsely charged for ulterior political motives." [5]
Harbor View Farm and thoroughbred racing
In 1960, he established Harbor View Farm in
Champion
Additionally, two of Wolfson sons, Steve and Gary, bred It's In The Air, American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in 1978, in the name of Happy Valley Farm.[9]
Wolfson tried to buy Louisville's Churchill Downs—home of the Kentucky Derby—for $46.1 million in 1985, but was unsuccessful.
In 1992, Louis Wolfson was inducted into the
Personal life
Wolfson married twice. His first wife, Florence Monsky, died in 1968 from cancer.
References
- ^ "CORPORATIONS: Retreat" Time Magazine, October 8, 1956
- bio. April 2, 2014. Archived from the originalon August 28, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "Abe Fortas resigns from Supreme Court May 15, 2008". Politico. September 10, 2002. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ "The US Supreme Court: Abe Fortas". Stanford University, WAIS. September 10, 2002. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ^ a b c http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/363101.html[dead link]
- ^ "Fortas Tie To Wolfson Is Detailed". The Washington Post. January 23, 1977. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ New York Times. p. B7. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
- ^ a b c Philanthropist Louis Wolfson Dies At 95 – Jacksonville News Story – WJXT Jacksonville Archived May 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e ESPN Affirmed owner Louis Wolfson dead at 95
- ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (January 21, 2008). "From millions to jail, then crowning glory". The Age. Melbourne.
- ^ "Wolfson Children's Hospital". Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
- Florida Times-Union. Archived from the originalon January 3, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
- ^ "When Aaron Spelling Ruled Television: An Oral History of Entertainment's Prolific, Populist Producer". The Hollywood Reporter. September 18, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
- ^ "Louis E. Wolfson during Chicago's stockholder's meeting". getty images. March 1, 1955. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
- ^ "Louis E. Wolfson, 95; Figured in Fortas Scandal". The Washington Post. January 3, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
- ^ Alan Weinberger, "What's in a Name? - The Tale of Louis Wolfson's Affirmed" [1] Archived November 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Financier Wolfson Scheduled To Leave Eglin Prison Today." Associated Press at The Herald-Tribune. Monday January 26, 1970. 45th year, No. 115. 1A. Retrieved from Google News (1/38) on August 23, 2010.
- ISBN 9781438130224.
- ^ "Larry King's mugshot". The Smoking Gun. January 9, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
- ^ "Larry King has a special place in his heart for Miami 'where anything goes'". Miami Herald. April 14, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ Louis Wolfson -- millionaire, acclaimed horse owner -- dies at 95, The Miami Herald, December 31, 2007.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (June 10, 2015). "Jews in the News: Ahmed Zayat, Eric Balfour and Ashley Tisdale". Jewish Federation of Tampa.
Further reading
- Sobel, Robert (1993). "Louis Wolfson—The Junkman". Dangerous Dreamers: The Financial Innovators from Charles Merrill to Michael Milken. New York: Wiley. pp. 9–22. ISBN 0471577340.
- Stanley Penn, The Wall Street Journal, Wolfson's World; Industrialist, Facing a Year in Jail Friday, Turns Cold Shoulder Toward Wall Street, April 22, 1969. p. 40
- The Wall Street Journal W vs. W; The Wolfson Story Begins a New Chapter; Climax or Anticlimax? The Floridian's Adversary Is The SEC's Youthful and Ambitious Mr. Windels Settlement Before Tuesday? August 1, 1958. p. 1
- Harbor View Farm at the NTRA
- Daily Racing Form December 31, 2007 "Affirmed owner Louis Wolfson dead at 95"
- ISBN 978-1-58150-102-5