Louis Wolfson
Encyclopedia
Louis Elwood Wolfson was a Wall Street
financier
and one of the first modern corporate raid
ers, labeled by Time Magazine as such in a 1956 article. In later years he was a major thoroughbred horse racing participant best known as the owner and breeder of 1978 American Triple Crown
winner, Affirmed
.
In 1967 and 1968, he was convicted of selling unregistered shares and of perjury and obstruction of justice for which he served one year in a federal prison. The conviction eventually led to the 1969 resignation of Supreme Court
Justice Abe Fortas
, who first returned a $20,000 retainer to a Wolfson foundation.
, Missouri
,
but his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida
, when he was one year old.
The child of Jewish-Lithuanian immigrants, 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: half from a wealthy Georgia football fan, Harold Hirsch
, and half from his family.
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 had a huge cash reserve. 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 ship building, chemicals, and money lending, becoming one of the first conglomerates
. The corporation won numerous multi-million dollar contracts for high-profile projects, including
the Glen Canyon Dam
in Arizona, the United States Navy
Supercarrier
Kitty Hawk
and the Mackinac Bridge
, linking Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas. Wolfson became nationally known when, in 1955, he unsuccessfully attempted a hostile takeover of Montgomery Ward and Co.
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 Mel Brooks
' first movie, The Producers
, which won an Oscar and later became a major Broadway
play. 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.
of the George Mason University
School of Law put forward the view at the time of Wolfson's death that Wolfson was a unique and immense contributor to the wealth of the U.S. (and world economy) for having invented the modern hostile tender offer.
, the River Garden/Wolfson Health and Aging Center and the Louis E. Wolfson Wellness Center at Baptist Medical Center Downtown.
Louis Wolfson also worked to honor the memory of his older brother, Sam. The Duval County School Board named Samuel W. Wolfson High School
after his brother and the Wolfson family funded construction of Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park
, the minor-league baseball facility in Jacksonville for decades until the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
was built in 2002-3.
and obstruction of justice
during a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Merritt-Chapman. He served nine months at the at the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Prison Camp, Eglin
, Eglin Air Force Base
. He also paid a substantial fine.
Wolfson started a charitable foundation, which in 1966 paid Supreme Court Justice and Wolfson friend Abe Fortas
a $20,000 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.
In 1971, Wolfson was in the news again. He filed a complaint against Larry King
-- then a Miami radio host, now 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 criminal charges were eventually dismissed because the statute of limitations
had run out.
However, King was fired after Wolfson wrote to TV and radio executives at WTVJ & 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."
Wolfson and King had been friends until King admitted that he had tricked Wolfson into giving him $48,500 to influence President Richard Nixon
's incoming US Attorney General, John N. Mitchell
, into reviewing Wolfson's conviction.
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 show you how he was railroaded."
, Marion County
, Florida
. He raced a number of successful thoroughbred horses including 1963 co-champion 2-year-old male Raise a Native
, and 1965 Horse of the Year
, Roman Brother
.
Champion Hail to Reason
, bred by Beiber-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 1978 American Triple Crown
winner Affirmed
. Affirmed was voted Horse 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.
The Wolfsons' stable led all North America
n owners in money earned in 1978, 1979, and 1980 and was the Eclipse Award
winners as top breeder in 1978.
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.
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 Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association
Hall of Fame.
His second and final marriage was to Patrice Jacobs, daughter of Hall of Fame trainer Hirsch Jacobs
and Ethel D. Jacobs
.
and colon cancer on December 30, 2007, in Bal Harbour, Florida
. He died at age 95 on his 35th wedding anniversary to his second wife, Patrice.
He had four children: a daughter Marcia Drake, and three sons - Stephen, Gary, and Marty. His first wife, Florence Monsky Wolfson, died in 1968 from cancer.
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...
financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
and one of the first modern corporate raid
Corporate raid
A corporate raid is an American English business term for buying a large interest in a corporation and then using voting rights to enact measures directed at increasing the share value...
ers, labeled by Time Magazine as such in a 1956 article. In later years he was a major thoroughbred horse racing participant best known as the owner and breeder of 1978 American Triple Crown
United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...
winner, Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
.
In 1967 and 1968, he was convicted of selling unregistered shares and of perjury and obstruction of justice for which he served one year in a federal prison. The conviction eventually led to the 1969 resignation of Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
Justice Abe Fortas
Abe Fortas
Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...
, who first returned a $20,000 retainer to a Wolfson foundation.
Young Wolfson
Wolfson was born in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
,
but his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, when he was one year old.
The child of Jewish-Lithuanian immigrants, Wolfson and his seven siblings grew up in Jacksonville, where his father was a junk man/scrap metal dealer.
In his teens, he boxed
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
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
Andrew Jackson High School (Jacksonville, Florida)
Andrew Jackson High School is the oldest fully accredited high school in Duval County, Florida. It is located just north of downtown Jacksonville on Main Street . It opened in 1927, followed by Robert E. Lee High School, which opened in 1928. It was originally an all-white school, but the school...
, who went to the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
to play football. He left the university after two years, never graduating. After dropping out of college, he raised $10,000: half from a wealthy Georgia football fan, Harold Hirsch
Harold Hirsch
Harold U. Hirsch played football at the University of Georgia from 1900 to 1901, studied law at Columbia University and was the general counsel for The Coca-Cola Company for more than thirty years....
, 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 Capital Transit Company from the North American Company
North American Company
The North American Company was a holding company incorporated in New Jersey on June 14, 1890, and controlled by Henry Villard, to succeed to the assets and property of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company...
for $2 million. Capital Transit held the streetcar and bus service franchise for Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; it had been managed conservatively and had a huge cash reserve. 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
Merritt-Chapman & Scott
Merritt-Chapman & Scott, nicknamed "The Black Horse of the Sea", was a noted marine salvage and construction firm of the United States, with worldwide operations. The chief predecessor company was founded in the 1860s by Israel Merritt, but a large number of other firms were merged in over the...
made Wolfson Chairman and CEO of the marine construction and salvage firm, but Wolfson expanded the company into ship building, chemicals, and money lending, becoming one of the first conglomerates
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
. The corporation won numerous multi-million dollar contracts for high-profile projects, including
the Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona in the United States, just north of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second...
in Arizona, the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Supercarrier
Supercarrier
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial...
Kitty Hawk
USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)
The supercarrier USS Kitty Hawk , formerly CVA-63, was the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers' first powered airplane flight...
and the Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Bridge
The Mackinac Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the non-contiguous Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge is the third longest in total suspension in the world and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages...
, linking Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas. Wolfson became nationally known when, in 1955, he unsuccessfully attempted a hostile takeover of Montgomery Ward and Co.
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
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 Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
' first movie, The Producers
The Producers
The Producers commonly refers to Mel Brooks' series of comedic works about two con-men who attempt to cheat theater investors out of their money, only to have the scheme improbably backfire:...
, which won an Oscar and later became a major Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play. 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.
Place in American financial history
Dean Henry G. ManneHenry Manne
Henry Manne is an American writer and academic, considered a founder of the Law and economics discipline. He is Professor Emeritus of the George Mason University....
of the George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
School of Law put forward the view at the time of Wolfson's death that Wolfson was a unique and immense contributor to the wealth of the U.S. (and world economy) for having invented the modern hostile tender offer.
"Wolfson's contribution to human welfare far exceeded the total value of all private philanthropy in history. He invented the modem hostile tender offer. This invention, which activated and energized the market for corporate control, was the primary cause of the revolutionary restructuring of American industry in the 1970s and '80s, and the ensuing economic boom."
Philanthropy
The Wolfson name is evident all over the city of Jacksonville Florida. As chairman of the Wolfson Family Foundation for 35 years until the late 1980s, Mr. Wolfson directed much of the foundation's gifts to Jacksonville 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. Other gifts included the Wolfson Student Center at Jacksonville UniversityJacksonville University
Jacksonville University is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, on the banks of the St. Johns River. The school was founded in 1934 as a two year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until 1958, when it shifted its focus to four-year university degrees and adopted its...
, the River Garden/Wolfson Health and Aging Center and the Louis E. Wolfson Wellness Center at Baptist Medical Center Downtown.
Louis Wolfson also worked to honor the memory of his older brother, Sam. The Duval County School Board named Samuel W. Wolfson High School
Samuel W. Wolfson High School
Samuel W. Wolfson High School is a public high school, named after Samuel W. Wolfson, located in the Duval County Public School district, serving students of the diverse south side area of Jacksonville, Florida. Samuel W. Wolfson High School serves grades 9-12 in the Duval County Public Schools...
after his brother and the Wolfson family funded construction of Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park
Sam W. Wolfson Baseball Park
Samuel W. Wolfson Baseball Park, better known as Wolfson Park, was a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It stood from 1954 until 2002, when it was demolished and replaced by the new Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville...
, the minor-league baseball facility in Jacksonville for decades until the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville
The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Suns, who play in the Class Double-A Southern League. The facility opened in 2003....
was built in 2002-3.
Legal troubles
In 1967 and 1968, he was convicted by two different federal juries on charges stemming from stock sales. The first conviction arose when Wolfson sold unregistered shares in Continental Enterprises, Inc. to the public. Continental Enterprises was an unlisted company that he controlled. He never denied the charges but argued that the law was misapplied in his case. The second conviction was for charges of perjuryPerjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
and obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
during a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Merritt-Chapman. He served nine months at the at the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
Federal Prison Camp, Eglin
Federal Prison Camp, Eglin
Federal Prison Camp, Eglin was a Federal Bureau of Prisons minimum security prison on the grounds of Eglin Air Force Base.By 2006 the federal government decided to cut costs by closing Eglin and returning the buildings to the air force. The prisoners were moved to Federal Prison Camp,...
, Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County....
. He also paid a substantial fine.
Wolfson started a charitable foundation, which in 1966 paid Supreme Court Justice and Wolfson friend Abe Fortas
Abe Fortas
Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...
a $20,000 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
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. 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.
In 1971, Wolfson was in the news again. He filed a complaint against Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
-- then a Miami radio host, now a CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
personality—for allegedly pocketing $5,000, part of a $25,000 payment destined for New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
Jim Garrison
Earling Carothers "Jim" Garrison — who changed his first name to Jim in the early 1960s — was the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana from 1962 to 1973. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best known for his investigations into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy...
, who was investigating President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's assassination. King was arrested for grand-larceny, but criminal charges were eventually dismissed because the statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
had run out.
However, King was fired after Wolfson wrote to TV and radio executives at WTVJ & 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."
Wolfson and King had been friends until King admitted that he had tricked Wolfson into giving him $48,500 to influence President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's incoming US Attorney General, John N. Mitchell
John N. Mitchell
John Newton Mitchell was the Attorney General of the United States from 1969 to 1972 under President Richard Nixon...
, into reviewing Wolfson's conviction.
Crusade
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 show you how he was railroaded."
Harbor View Farm and thoroughbred racing
In 1960, he established Harbor View Farm in FellowshipFellowship, Florida
Fellowship is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida, United States. It is located near the intersection of US 27 and County Road 464. The community is part of the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Marion County
Marion County, Florida
Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 316,183. Its county seat is Ocala....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He raced a number of successful thoroughbred horses including 1963 co-champion 2-year-old male Raise a Native
Raise a Native
Raise a Native was an undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse that was named 1963 champion two-year-old colt in the Turf and Sport Digest poll. He sired 74 stakes winners, including Majestic Prince and Alydar...
, and 1965 Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
, Roman Brother
Roman Brother
Roman Brother was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.Owned by Louis Wolfson's Harbor View Farm, he was trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Burley Parke. As a two-year-old, Roman Brother's best results were a second to Hurry to Market in the Garden State Stakes and a win...
.
Champion Hail to Reason
Hail To Reason
Hail To Reason was an American thoroughbred racehorse and an influential sire. He was bred in Kentucky by the Bieber-Jacobs Stable, a partnership of prominent horsemen, Isadore Bieber and Hirsch Jacobs. He was sired by the English stakes winner Turn-To, a grandson of the very influential sire Nearco...
, bred by Beiber-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 1978 American Triple Crown
United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...
winner Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
. Affirmed was voted Horse of the Year
Horse of the Year
Horse of the Year is an honor given by various organizations worldwide in harness racing and thoroughbred horse racing.Some of the awards include:* Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year* Breeders' Cup World Championships Poll* European Horse 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.
The Wolfsons' stable led all North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n owners in money earned in 1978, 1979, and 1980 and was the Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
winners as top breeder in 1978.
Additionally, two of Wolfson sons, Steve and Gary, bred It's In The Air
It's In The Air
It's In The Air was an American Champion filly Thoroughbred racehorse.Bred by Steve and Gary Wolfson's Happy Valley Farm, It's In The Air was from the first crop of Mr. Prospector and out of the mare A Wind Is Rising...
, American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in 1978, in the name of Happy Valley Farm.
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 Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association
Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association
The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association is a trade association of owners and trainers of race horses in the United States and Canada...
Hall of Fame.
His second and final marriage was to Patrice Jacobs, daughter of Hall of Fame trainer Hirsch Jacobs
Hirsch Jacobs
Hirsch Jacobs was an American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner.Jacobs was the leading race-winning trainer in the United States 1933-39, 1941–44, the U.S. leading money-winning trainer, 1946, 1960, 1965, and the U.S. leading money-winning breeder, 1964-67...
and Ethel D. Jacobs
Ethel D. Jacobs
Ethel D. Jacobs was a prominent American Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder who was a three-time leading owner in North America....
.
Death
Louis Wolfson succumbed to Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and colon cancer on December 30, 2007, in Bal Harbour, Florida
Bal Harbour, Florida
Bal Harbour is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,305 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bal Harbour is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of...
. He died at age 95 on his 35th wedding anniversary to his second wife, Patrice.
He had four children: a daughter Marcia Drake, and three sons - Stephen, Gary, and Marty. His first wife, Florence Monsky Wolfson, died in 1968 from cancer.
Further reading
- Stanley Penn, The Wall Street Journal, Wolfson's World; Industrialist, Facing a Year in Jail Friday, Turns Cold Shoulder Toward Wall Street, 22 April 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? 1 August 1958. p. 1
- Harbor View Farm at the NTRA
- Daily Racing Form December 31, 2007 "Affirmed owner Louis Wolfson dead at 95"
- Bowen, Edward L.Edward L. BowenEdward L. Bowen is an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research....
Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders (2003) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1-58150-102-5