Saul P. Steinberg Bio

Saul Phillip Steinberg was an American businessman and financier. Before his 30th and 40th birthdays, he achieved millionaire and billionaire status. He founded a business that leased computers called Leasco, which he then used to successfully take over the much bigger Reliance Insurance Company in 1968. His attempted attempts to acquire control of Walt Disney Productions in 1984 and Chemical Bank in 1969 are what made him most famous.

Saul P. Steinberg Family

Steinberg, the son of Julius and Anne Cohen Steinberg, was born on August 13, 1939, into a Jewish family and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He had two sisters, Roni Sokoloff and Lynda Jurist, as well as one brother, Robert Steinberg. Steinberg successfully completed his studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia. Although some reports claim he graduated at age 18 in two years, he was identified as a member of the class of 1959.

Saul P. Steinberg Obituary

Steinberg passed away on the same day as his mother, Anne Steinber, on December 7, 2012, at the age of 73.

Saul Steinberg, a daring corporate thief who terrorized businesses for more than three decades by attacking their shares, passed dead on Friday at his Manhattan residence. Some companies paid him millions of dollars to disappear. 
The death was verified by Laura Tisch Broumand, his daughter. His mother, Anne Steinberg, who had once sued Mr. Steinberg for an unpaid bill, passed away peacefully in her sleep in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the family, on the same day.

Saul P. Steinberg Personal life

Before divorcing in 1974, Steinberg and his first wife, Barbara Herzog, had three children together.
In 1999, Jonathan Steinberg(“Jono”) wed Maria Bartiromo, a CNBC host.
The CEO of WisdomTree, an ETF provider, is Jono.
Later, Bartiromo changed networks to join Fox Business.
Jonathan Tisch, an executive at Loews Hotels, and Laura Tisch wed in 1988; they eventually divorced. She wed plastic surgeon Stafford Broumand in 2001.
Philadelphia-based comic book stores are owned by Nicholas.
When Laura Bordoni Sconocchia Fisher, an Italian American, converted to Judaism before they were married, Steinberg divorced his first wife. Julian was their son before they were divorced.

In 1983, Steinberg wed Gayfryd (McNabb MacLean Johnson), a Louisiana businesswoman who had previously had her own steel-pipe company and was of Canadian descent.
Gayfryd also embraced Judaism before they were married. Steinberg and Gayfryd had a daughter, Holden, and a boy, Rayne, from a prior union, which Steinberg adopted. A trustee of the New York Public Library is Gayfryd.

Saul P. Steinberg Career background

At the age of 22, Steinberg established Leasco Data Processing Equipment Corporation, a business that rented out IBM computers. Steinberg discovered that IBM was charging a premium to lease its computers when he researched the company for a paper he had written about it while a student at Wharton. Steinberg discovered that by using the signed leases as collateral with lenders, he could offer computer leases at a discount to IBM’s prices while still securing bank financing for the full cost of the computers. Leasco experienced rapid growth and went public in 1965.

Leasco made an offer to buy Reliance Insurance Company, a 10 times larger insurance provider in Philadelphia. Reliance had been in operation for 150 years; it was founded in 1817 to offer fire insurance. It was handled cautiously. Insurance businesses have a lot of capital, which computer leasing companies really need. Steinberg presented convertible subordinated debentures and warrants on common stock to the Reliance shareholders (rather than cash). Reliance management hesitated but ultimately gave in, and Leasco was able to successfully take over Reliance in 1968. Steinberg took over Reliance at the age of 29.

In 1969, Steinberg made an attempt to seize control of Chemical Bank, one of the biggest financial organizations in the country at the time. The effort fell short.
Pergamon Press was successfully acquired by Steinberg from British entrepreneur Robert Maxwell.
They got along at first, but their friendship soon deteriorated, and Steinberg was able to persuade British investors to support his removal of Maxwell from his position.
But in 1974, Maxwell repurchased Pergamon with borrowed money.
Steinberg was appointed Reliance’s CEO, and over the subsequent thirty years, he and his brother served as the company’s main management. During the junk bond era, Steinberg accrued significant debt and expanded, ostensibly through undercharging for its insurance policies. In addition to paying Saul, the business distributed dividends to its stockholders, which included the Steinberg family as a significant shareholder and paid Saul Steinberg large sums in compensation.

Dealmaker Henry Silverman, later CEO of HFS Inc. and Cendant Corp., was hired by Steinberg at Reliance. While Silverman was still employed by Reliance, Steinberg and television entrepreneur Joseph Wallach worked together to acquire Spanish-language television stations and form Telemundo, a Spanish-language media firm.
Steinberg experienced a major stroke in 1995. He was compelled to take a back seat in Reliance management. Leverage and poor insurance policy prices contributed to Reliance’s financial difficulties. The company’s management tried to sell it. In 2000, Reliance Group secured a deal to sell to Leucadia National in exchange for equity and the taking on of debt. But in July 2000, this deal fell through.

In 2001, Reliance declared bankruptcy and started a protracted liquidation procedure. Steinberg was compelled to sell both his sizable art collection and his 17,000 square foot, 34 room duplex apartment at 740 Park Avenue in Manhattan, which was purchased in 2000 by Stephen A. Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group for “just over or below $30 million.”