Edward Reynolds Downe Jr. (born 1929) is an American businessman and socialite.
Biography
Downe graduated from the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
's
Missouri School of Journalism
The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...
in 1952. He worked in a variety of capacities at two Virginia newspapers before joining
True magazine. In 1954, he left True to become an editor at the rival magazine
Argosy
Argosy or The Argosy may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Argosy'' (magazine), an American pulp magazine 1882–1978 and revived 1990–1994, 2004–2006
* ''Argosy'' (UK magazine), three British magazines
* Argosy spaceship in ''Escap ...
; he later moved into advertising at Argosy. In 1966, Downe purchased
Family Weekly
''USA Weekend'' was an American weekend newspaper magazine owned by the Gannett Company. Structured as a sister publication to Gannett's flagship newspaper ''USA Today'' and distributed in the Sunday editions of participating local newspapers, ...
, a newspaper insert similar to
Parade Magazine
''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...
. He founded
Downe Communications Downe Communications was a publishing company founded by Edward Downe, Jr. that produced several popular magazines and provided subscription fulfillment services from 1967 to 1978.
Downe was a trained journalist who worked at newspapers before bec ...
in 1967.
Through this company he went on to acquire magazines including
The Ladies' Home Journal, and
The American Home.
Downe eventually sold Downe Communications to the
Charter Company, a Jacksonville, Florida based oil and insurance conglomerate for approximately $9 million.
Downe divorced his first wife, Naomi Susan Campbell, in 1977.
Downe married heiress Charlotte Ford (mother of
Elena Ford
Elena Anne Ford-Niarchos (born May 25, 1966) is an American-Greek businesswoman. She is the Chief customer experience, Customer Experience Officer at Ford Motor Company and the first female Ford family member to hold an executive position at the ...
) on his 57th birthday, August 31, 1986.
Insider trading
In 1992, the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
charged that in the mid- to late-1980s Downe and associated exchanged inside information in order to make illegal stock trades.
Irish cottage controversy
In February 2009 the
Hartford Courant
The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...
ran a story concerning US senator
Christopher Dodd's acquisition of his vacation home in
Roundstone, Ireland. The article pointed out Dodd's close links to Downe, his disgraced former partner in buying the home. After paying an $11 million fine for his role in the scam, Downe later obtained a
pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
in the waning days of the
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
administration. The controversial pardon was granted after Dodd lobbied Clinton on Downe's behalf. Dodd later acquired the interests of his partners after the pardon was granted. Dodd was also criticized for claiming the Roundstone home was worth less than $250,000 in Senate ethics filings; some observers estimated the likely value in excess of $1 million USD.
See also
*
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