Walter H. Shorenstein was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 billionaire real estate developer and investor. His company, Shorenstein Company

Shorenstein Company

The Shorenstein Company, LLC, is one of the United States' largest and oldest privately owned real estate firms, owning interests in, or managing, some 20 million square feet of office space...

, owned 130 buildings totaling at least 28000000 square feet (2,601,285.1 m²) of office space at the time of his death. He ranked 371 on the "Forbes 400

Forbes 400

The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by Forbes Magazine magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September, and 2010 marks the 29th issue. The 400 was started by Malcom Forbes in 1982 and treats those in the list like...

" list of richest Americans.

Early life

Shorenstein was born in 1915 in Glen Cove, New York

Glen Cove, New York

Glen Cove is a city in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 26,964....

, son of a clothier. His uncle, Hyman Shorenstein, was a political "kingmaker" in New York during the early 20th century, and ancestor to a number of New York politicians.

Shorenstein, a 1934 graduate of Penn State, enlisted in the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 in 1941.

Career

Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Shorenstein moved to San Francisco with savings of $1,000. He worked as a commercial real estate broker, becoming a partner at Milton Meyer and Co., a firm he bought in 1960 upon its founder's death and renamed after himself. He and others attributed his success in business to "street smarts".

Shorenstein became active politically and was a significant fundraiser for the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

. He was a major donor to civic and charitable causes, as well as higher education. He was prominent in the Jewish-American political and philanthropic community. In 1993 he and Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

 established the Gorbachev Foundation

Gorbachev Foundation

The Gorbachev Foundation is a non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, founded by the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1991 and began its work since January 1992. The foundation is active in researching the Perestroika era, current issues of Russian...

 in San Francisco. Also in 1993, Shorenstein helped an investor group purchase the San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 baseball team thus preventing the franchise from moving to Florida.

Family

Shorenstein, whose wife of 49 years, Phyllis, died in 1994, is survived by his daughter Carole Shorenstein Hays

Carole Shorenstein Hays

Carole Shorenstein Hays is an American theatrical producer. She has produced many award-winning Broadway plays. In additiion to her Broadway endeavors, she is the President of SHN , a theatrical producing company in San Francisco...

, a Broadway producer with whom he established three major theaters in San Francisco: the Orpheum

Orpheum Theatre (San Francisco)

The Orpheum Theatre is a performance venue located at 1192 Market at Hyde Street in the Civic Center district of San Francisco, California. The theatre first opened in 1926 as one of the many designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca for theater-circuit owner Alexander Pantages. The interior features...

, the Curran

Curran Theatre

The Curran Theatre is located in San Francisco and was named by its first owner, Homer Curran. The theatre is currently owned by Carole Shorenstein Hays and is operated by SHN - Overview :...

 and the Golden Gate

Golden Gate Theatre

The Golden Gate Theatre is a performance venue located in San Francisco, CA., first opened in 1922 as a vaudeville venue, and later was a major movie theater...

. His son Douglas is chairman and chief executive of The Shorenstein Company. His eldest daughter Joan, a producer for the CBS Evening News

CBS Evening News

CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....

 and Face The Nation

Face the Nation

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...

, died of cancer in 1985. In her honor, Shorenstein founded the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

’s Kennedy School of Government.