John J. Dreyfus Jr. (August 28, 1913 – March 27, 2009) was an American financial expert and the founder of the Dreyfus Funds. Born in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, Dreyfus was a graduate of

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

in Pennsylvania. He is widely publicized for being the man who "invented" the commonplace mutual fund through direct marketing to the public. His early television commercials featuring a lion emerging from the Wall Street subway station were successful. According to Barron's Magazine end of Century issue, Jack Dreyfus was considered the 2nd most significant money manager of the last century. Dreyfus married in 1939 Joan Personette, from whom he was divorced; they had one child, John (Jonny). His paternal grandfather was a first cousin of Alfred Dreyfus, the protagonist of the French 19th-century anti-Semitic scandal known as the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. Jack Dreyfus was also a renowned championship bridge player. In addition to this, Dreyfus also became something of a public activist and proponent for the use of

Phenytoin Phenytoin (PHT), sold under the brand name Dilantin among others, is an anti-seizure medication. It is useful for the prevention of tonic-clonic seizures (also known as grand mal seizures) and focal seizures, but not absence seizures. The in ...

, an anticonvulsant, for the treatment of several mental health disorders; Dreyfus was not a doctor but claimed that the drug, which was prescribed to him in 1966, had alleviated his depression and chronic anxiety; after this, Dreyfus became a very vocal proponent for the research and clinical use of Phenytoin in these and other mental health diseases. Dreyfus would author a book titled ''A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked'' which he published and distributed with his own money (spending up to US$70 million) and had the book sent for free to hundreds of doctors. In his role as a Phenytoin proponent, Dreyfus is known to have recommended the drug to

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and it has also been said that on at least two occasions Dreyfus provided thousands of Phenytoin pills to him during his presidency to be used as a sedative and antidepressant after Dreyfus profusely praised the drug while he dined in Bebe Rebozo's compound with Nixon who, intrigued, supposedly asked Dreyfus for the drug, who complied. This is a claim that was most prominently raised by Irish journalist Anthony Summers who published an unauthorized biography of Nixon titled Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon in 2001 in which he raised these allegations; however, the claims that Dreyfus provided Nixon with

who consumed them while in office have been fiercely disputed by historians and former colleagues of Nixon. Jack Dreyfus wrote and published his autobiography titled ''The Two Lives of Jack Dreyfus--The Lion of Wall Street'' published for the first time in 1995. He was a proponent of Phenytoin all his life and he also had his autobiography bound together with his previous work, ''A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked''. This single volume containing both works, he distributed for free. John "Jack" Dreyfus died on March 27, 2009.

Hobeau Farm

Dreyfus established the noted Hobeau Farm in Ocala, Florida, in the early 1960s where he bred, trained and raced

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorses. The property was the center of his racing operation. In 1962, Dreyfus hired Hall of Fame thoroughbred trainer

Allen Jerkens Harry Allen Jerkens (April 21, 1929 – March 18, 2015) was an American thoroughbred race horse Hall of Fame trainer. Jerkens' father owned a riding academy on Long Island that led to his interest in horse racing, and in the spring of 195 ...

as head trainer. He sold the property (reduced to 1,830 acres) in February 2005 for $12,750,000 Jack Dreyfus served as Chairman of the

New York Racing Association The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest Thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park i ...

. He was voted the 1976

Eclipse Award of Merit The Eclipse Award of Merit is part of the American Eclipse Awards in Thoroughbred horse racing. The industry's highest honor, it is presented to an individual or entity displaying outstanding lifetime achievement in, and service to, the Thoroughbre ...

, Thoroughbred racing's highest honor presented to an individual or entity displaying outstanding lifetime achievement in, and service to, the Thoroughbred industry. Among his noted horses and victories were Beau Purple, which defeated Kelso in the

Man o' War Stakes The Man o' War Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses aged four-years-old and older. It is run over a distance of one and three-eighth miles on turf and is scheduled annually for early May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New Yo ...

at Belmont Park in October 1962;

Onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

which defeated

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...

in the

Whitney Stakes The Whitney Stakes (run as the Whitney Handicap through 2013 and still sometimes referred to as such) is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of miles. The current purse is $1, ...

in August 1973;

Prove Out Prove Out (1969–1990) was an American thoroughbred racehorse best known for his wins over Secretariat in the 1973 Woodward Stakes, and Riva Ridge in the 1973 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Background Prove Out was a chestnut horse bred by King Ran ...

which defeated

in the

Woodward Stakes The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. It is named for prominent racehorse owner William Woodward. The race was first run in 1954 at Aqueduct Rac ...

in September 1973; Handsome Boy which defeated Buckpasser in the Brooklyn Handicap in July 1967; Blessing Angelica (mare) which won the

Delaware Handicap The Delaware Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid July at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington, Delaware. The Grade 2 race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-quarter miles o ...

in 1971 and 1972. Hobeau Farm would continue to see success until Dreyfus' passing and onwards.

References

External links

Jack Dreyfus websiteDreyfus Health Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyfus, Jack 1913 births 2009 deaths Lehigh University alumni American racehorse owners and breeders Eclipse Award winners People from Montgomery, Alabama American financial businesspeople Stock and commodity market managers American money managers