Gordon B. Hanlon was an American stockbroker from Boston.

Early life

Hanlon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from

Suffolk Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two blocks ...

and

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 ...

. He broke his leg skiing which kept him out of active military service during World War II.

Business career

Hanlon was proprietor and owner of Gordon B. Hanlon & Company, a securities broker dealer. On October 1, 1941, he purchased controlling interest of the Aldred Investment Trust at a public auction.

Suffolk Downs

On February 20, 1944, the Aldred Investment Trust purchased a majority of the voting stock in Eastern Racing Association, Inc, which operated

Suffolk Downs Suffolk Downs is a former Thoroughbred race track in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The track opened in 1935 after being built by Joseph A. Tomasello for a cost of $2 million. It was sold in May 2017 to a developer who plans to crea ...

. Hanlon was elected president of the Eastern Racing Association that same day. Hanlon purchased the track strictly for business reasons, not because he was interested in the sport. On May 19, 1944, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had filed a complaint in federal court accusing Hanlon his fellow directors of the Aldred Investment Trust of gross abuse of the trust, including drastically changing the investment policy of the trust without giving adequate notice to security holders by purchasing stock in the Eastern Racing Association, keeping the trust insolvent since 1937, operating at a loss since 1939, and paying the directors large salaries. It asked the court to appoint a receiver to liquidate the trust's assets and distribute them to creditors. On January 19, 1945, Judge George Clinton Sweeney found Hanlon and five other Aldred officials guilty of gross abuse of the trust. On April 24, 1945, the Eastern Racing Association elected

Allan J. Wilson Allan James Wilson was a Canadian-born American horse racing executive. Early life Wilson was born on February 16, 1886, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He spent the first eleven years of his life on his family's farm in Charlottetown, whe ...

to succeed Hanlon as track president, although he had not exercised any power since the receivers took over the trust. The track was sold to a group led by John C. Pappas at a public auction on May 1, 1946.

Bannwart estate

Hanlon served as the executor of the estate of Emilie T. Bannwart. Hanlon was to receive the bulk of the will after the death of Bannwart's brother. The will was contested by another brother,

Alexander Bannwart Alexander William Bannwart (December 25, 1880 – February 21, 1959), also known as Al Winn, was a Swiss-American businessman. He was involved in baseball, politics, and real estate. Bannwart graduated from Phillips Academy and Princeton Univer ...

, and the Community Church of Boston, who were disinherited. The parties reached an agreement in which Hanlon received $19,500 outright and was removed as executor.

Personal life and death

Hanlon was married to artist and Harvard art historian Marguerite Pote Hanlon. Their daughter was figure skater Lorraine Hanlon. Hanlon died on November 15, 1973, at his home in Boston.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanlon, Gordon B. 1973 deaths American stockbrokers American white-collar criminals Businesspeople from Boston Suffolk Downs executives Year of birth missing Suffolk University Law School alumni Harvard Business School alumni American businesspeople convicted of crimes Criminals from Massachusetts