Henry Crown (; June 13, 1896 – August 14, 1990) was an American

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. Among other things, he founded the

Material Service Corporation Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologica ...

, which merged with

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Un ...

in 1959. At the time of his death, he was a billionaire. Henry Crown and Company, of which he is the namesake, is an investment firm that owns or has interests in a variety of business assets. From 1951 to 1961, he was the owner of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from " Empire State", the nickname of the ...

Early life and career

Crown (birth name: Henry Krinsky) was born in 1896 to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants from Lithuania. He was the third of seven children of a sweatshop worker, Arie Krinsky (1861–1937), and his wife Ida (1871–1956) . His father changed the family name to Crown while Henry was a boy. Crown did not attend school past the eighth grade. In 1915, at the age of 19, he and his elder brother Sol founded S. R. Crown & Company, a steel broker. Sol later died of tuberculosis, and in 1919, his brother Irving joined him. In the same year, he and his brother borrowed $10,000 and founded the Material Service Corporation (MSC). MSC sold gravel, sand,

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

, and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

to builders in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

area. In its first year, the company made a profit of $7,000 on sales of $218,000. He left the business to serve as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1959, Crown gained a

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the majo ...

and merged the company with MSC, which had $100 million in sales. In 1960, Crown was named director of General Dynamics and then chairman of its executive committee, which lasted until 1966, when he was forced out by Roger Lewis through the redemption of Crown's controlling block of preferred stock. In 1970, Crown purchased sufficient stock to once again achieve a controlling interest in General Dynamics and quickly removed Roger Lewis, replacing him with David S. Lewis (no relation).

Philanthropy

According to his own claim, Crown had given away "nine figures" in his philanthropic pursuits by the time he turned 79. His beneficiaries included the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

, Stanford University,

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

and the

St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is non-denominational, it was found ...

student investment fund. The Henry Crown Symphony Hall in Jerusalem is named after him.

Personal life

Crown was married twice. His first wife, Rebecca Kranz, died in 1943.Chicago Tribune: "Gladys K. Crown, 82, Philanthropist And Exec" By Kenan Heise
September 14, 1991 His second wife was Gladys Kay.Aspen Institute: "Legacy of Henry Crown"
retrieved August 26. 2013 Crown had three children: Robert Crown (1921–1969),

Lester Crown Lester Crown (born June 7, 1925) is an American businessman and is the son of Chicago financier Henry Crown (died 1990), who created the Material Service Corporation with two brothers in 1919, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. Crown ...

(born June 7, 1925) and John J. Crown (1929–1997), a Cook County judge.

References

External links

Overview of Henry Crown and Company
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crown, Henry 1896 births 1990 deaths Businesspeople from Chicago American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jewish American philanthropists Philanthropists from Illinois 20th-century American philanthropists Crown Family 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews

Early life and career

Philanthropy

Personal life

See also

References

External links