George E. Stoddard (January 7, 1917 – March 30, 2009) was a real estate financier who pioneered the use of the sale-and-leaseback transaction. Stoddard was born in Perry, in Union County, Oregon, in 1917. His family moved east in 1928, living in Eastchester, New York. Stoddard earned a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, and a law degree from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. He worked for 34 years at the Equitable Life Assurance Society before joining W. P. Carey & Co. in 1979. At W. P. Carey, Stoddard chaired the independent investment committee, personally reviewing ever deal raised by the firms' acquisition team. "If he didn't approve of a deal, it wouldn't get done,"

William Polk Carey William Polk Carey (May 11, 1930 – January 2, 2012) was an American philanthropist and businessman. He was the founder of W. P. Carey & Co., a corporate real estate financing firm headquartered in New York City, and donated the funds to e ...

, the firm's chairman, is reported to have said.

References

1917 births 2009 deaths American financiers Brigham Young University alumni Fordham University alumni Harvard Business School alumni 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1910s-stub