Jack Dreyfus
Encyclopedia
John J. "Jack" Dreyfus, Sr. (August 28, 1913 – March 27, 2009) was an American
financial expert and the founder of the Dreyfus Funds
.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama
, Dreyfus was a graduate of Lehigh University
in Pennsylvania. He is widely publicized for being the man who "invented" the commonplace mutual fund through direct marketing to the public.
After selling the fund during the early 1970s, Dreyfus became a major proponent of phenytoin
as a means to control nervousness and depression when he received a prescription for Dilantin in 1966. Dreyfus' book about his experience with phenytoin, A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked, sits on the shelves of many physicians courtesy of the work of his foundation. Despite well over $100 million in personal financing, his push to see phenytoin evaluated for alternative uses has had little lasting effect on the medical community. This was partially due to Parke-Davis
's reluctance to invest in a drug nearing the end of its patent life.
His early television commercials featuring a lion emerging from the Wall Street
subway station were successful. According to Barron's Magazine end of Century issue, Jack Dreyfus was considered the 2nd most significant money manager of the last century.
Dreyfus married in 1939 Joan Personette, from whom he was divorced; they had one child, John (Jonny).
His paternal grandfather was a first cousin of Alfred Dreyfus
, the protagonist of the French 19th-century anti-Semitic scandal known as the Dreyfus affair
.
Jack Dreyfus was also a renowned, championship bridge player.
John "Jack" Dreyfus died on March 27, 2009.
in the early 1960s where he bred, trained and raced Thoroughbred
racehorses. The 2200 acres (8.9 km²) property was the center of his racing operation. He sold the property (reduced to 1,830 acres) in February 2005 for $12,750,000
Jack Dreyfus served as Chairman of the New York Racing Association
. http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/tag/hobeau-farm. He was voted the 1976 Eclipse Award of Merit
, Thoroughbred racing's highest honor presented to an individual or entity displaying outstanding lifetime achievement in, and service to, the Thoroughbred industry.
Among his noted horses and victories were Beau Purple
, which defeated Kelso
in the Man o' War Stakes
at Belmont Park
in October 1962; Onion
which defeated Secretariat
in the Whitney Stakes in August 1973; Prove Out
which defeated Secretariat
in the Woodward Stakes
in September 1973; Handsome Boy which defeated Buckpasser
in the Brooklyn Handicap
in July 1967; Blessing Angelica (mare) which won the Delaware Handicap
in 1971 and 1972.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
financial expert and the founder of the Dreyfus Funds
Dreyfus Corporation
Dreyfus, established in 1951 and headquartered in New York City, is one of the nation’s leading managers of investment products and strategies. The company merged with Mellon Financial in 1994, and then became a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon when Mellon Financial and The Bank of New York...
.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, Dreyfus was a graduate of Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
in Pennsylvania. He is widely publicized for being the man who "invented" the commonplace mutual fund through direct marketing to the public.
After selling the fund during the early 1970s, Dreyfus became a major proponent of phenytoin
Phenytoin
Phenytoin sodium is a commonly used antiepileptic. Phenytoin acts to suppress the abnormal brain activity seen in seizure by reducing electrical conductance among brain cells by stabilizing the inactive state of voltage-gated sodium channels...
as a means to control nervousness and depression when he received a prescription for Dilantin in 1966. Dreyfus' book about his experience with phenytoin, A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked, sits on the shelves of many physicians courtesy of the work of his foundation. Despite well over $100 million in personal financing, his push to see phenytoin evaluated for alternative uses has had little lasting effect on the medical community. This was partially due to Parke-Davis
Parke-Davis
Parke-Davis is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Although no longer an independent corporation, it was once America's oldest and largest drug maker, and played an important role in medical history.- History :...
's reluctance to invest in a drug nearing the end of its patent life.
His early television commercials featuring a lion emerging from the Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
subway station were successful. According to Barron's Magazine end of Century issue, Jack Dreyfus was considered the 2nd most significant money manager of the last century.
Dreyfus married in 1939 Joan Personette, from whom he was divorced; they had one child, John (Jonny).
His paternal grandfather was a first cousin of Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
, the protagonist of the French 19th-century anti-Semitic scandal known as the Dreyfus affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
.
Jack Dreyfus was also a renowned, championship bridge player.
John "Jack" Dreyfus died on March 27, 2009.
Hobeau Farm
Dreyfus established the noted Hobeau Farm in Ocala, FloridaOcala, Florida
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...
in the early 1960s where he bred, trained and raced Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorses. The 2200 acres (8.9 km²) property was the center of his racing operation. He sold the property (reduced to 1,830 acres) in February 2005 for $12,750,000
Jack Dreyfus served as Chairman of the New York Racing Association
New York Racing Association
The New York Racing Association, Inc. is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest thoroughbred horse-racing tracks in the state of New York. It runs Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island , and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga...
. http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/tag/hobeau-farm. He was voted the 1976 Eclipse Award of Merit
Eclipse Award of Merit
The Eclipse Award of Merit is part of the American Eclipse Awards in Thoroughbred horse racing. The industry's highest honor, it is presented to an individual or entity displaying outstanding lifetime achievement in, and service to, the Thoroughbred industry....
, Thoroughbred racing's highest honor presented to an individual or entity displaying outstanding lifetime achievement in, and service to, the Thoroughbred industry.
Among his noted horses and victories were Beau Purple
Beau Purple
Beau Purple was an American Thoroughbred racehorse most famous for defeating the legendary champion gelding Kelso in three of their four meetings. He was trained by George P. Odom until mid 1962 when H. Allen Jerkens, a 1975 inductee of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, took over...
, which defeated Kelso
Kelso (horse)
Kelso was an American thoroughbred race horse considered among the best racehorses of the 20th century. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century by The Blood-Horse magazine Kelso ranks 4th, behind only Man o' War , Secretariat and Citation...
in the Man o' War Stakes
Man O' War Stakes
The Man o' War Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Now Raced in July, it is a Grade I event offering a purse of $500,000 and is open to horses three-years-old and up. Run at one and three-eighths mile on the grass, the race sometimes attracts top European horses...
at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
in October 1962; Onion
Onion (horse)
Onion was a U.S. thoroughbred whose victory in the 1973 Whitney Handicap is considered to be among the most dramatic upsets in the history of horse racing....
which defeated Secretariat
Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold...
in the Whitney Stakes in August 1973; Prove Out
Prove Out
Prove Out was an American thoroughbred racehorse who, under the training of H. Allen Jerkens, scored a 16:1 upset victory over Secretariat in the 1973 Woodward Stakes, while conceding 7 pounds to the Triple Crown winner...
which defeated Secretariat
Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in two of the three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby , and the Belmont Stakes —records that still stand today.Secretariat was sired by Bold...
in the Woodward Stakes
Woodward Stakes
The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. Named for prominent racehorse owner, George Nicholas Woodward, it is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt for a purse of $750,000.The Woodward was run as a handicap in...
in September 1973; Handsome Boy which defeated Buckpasser
Buckpasser
Buckpasser was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won he won nine of his eleven race starts for international record winnings for a two-year-old of $586,090. Buckpasser was leading broodmare sire in 1983, 1984 and 1989....
in the Brooklyn Handicap
Brooklyn Handicap
The Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....
in July 1967; Blessing Angelica (mare) which won the Delaware Handicap
Delaware Handicap
The Delaware Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid July at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington, Delaware. The Grade II race is open to filles and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-quarter miles on the dirt....
in 1971 and 1972.