George Joseph (born September 11, 1921) is an American billionaire businessman who is the founder of general-line insurance firm Mercury General Corporation of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life and education

Joseph was born in

Beckley, West Virginia Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was founded on April 4, 1838. This city is the home of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology or West Virginia University, Beckley Campus. ...

, in 1921, the son of Lebanese immigrants.Mercury Insurance website: "George Joseph: Portrait of the American Dream"
retrieved August 11, 2013 His father worked as a coal miner and storekeeper. He served in the United States Air Force as a B-17 navigator in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, serving in some 50 missions. In 1949, he earned a degree in Physics and Mathematics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 3 years on the

GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

Career

After he graduated, he took a job with the Occidental Life Insurance Company in Los Angeles as a systems analyst. In the evenings, he sold life insurance door-to-door. Noting that many of his customers would inquire about other lines of insurance (auto, property), Joseph proposed for Occidental to expand its offerings. After being rebuffed in 1954, he left Occidental and started his own insurance agency in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that bundled the life insurance policies he was already selling with

property and casualty insurance General insurance or non-life insurance policy, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance is typically defined as any insurance that is not determine ...

and automobile insurance policies. At the time, the automobile insurance industry was not flexible, with all drivers paying the same rate, regardless of their driving record or experience. Noting that, Joseph founded Mercury Insurance in 1962. Mercury offered auto insurance policies with differing rates, based on a driver's record and experience, a first in the industry. As of 2013, Mercury employs 4,000 agents and has $4 billion in assets. Joseph remains actively involved in the operations of Mercury Insurance as the chairman of the board, but the CEO of the company is now Gabe Tirador.

Political activities

Joseph was active in the opposition to California Proposition 103 which regulated providers of insurance to individuals in California. Proposition 103 requires insurance carriers to file rates and receive prior approval before using the rates, and required all insurance carriers to roll back rates 20%. Joseph fought to repeal parts of the law in 1993, based on the grounds that the law promoted increased litigation in the insurance industry and that the law restricted competitive actions by insurance carriers.

Personal life

Joseph is listed in the 2017

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richest men in the world list, with an estimated net worth of US$1.6 billion.

References

External links

History of Mercury

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, George Living people 1921 births Harvard University alumni American people of Lebanese descent Businesspeople from West Virginia United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Military personnel from West Virginia American businesspeople in insurance American billionaires American centenarians Men centenarians United States Army Air Forces officers