Howard R. Levine is the former Chairman of the Board and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

Family Dollar Family Dollar Stores, Inc. is an American variety store chain. With over 8,000 locations in all states except Alaska and Hawaii, it was the second largest retailer of its type in the United States until it was acquired by Dollar Tree in 2015 and i ...

and is the son of Leon Levine, the

Founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

of Family Dollar.

Early life and education

Levine was born to a

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 ...

family, the son of Barbara (née Leven) and Leon Levine. He graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1981 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree.Howard Levine
, Wall Street Journal

Career

After graduating from college, Levine worked in the Merchandising Department at Family Dollar, rising to the position of Senior Vice President-Merchandising and Advertising from 1981 to 1987. Thereafter, he served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of Best Price Clothing Stores, Inc., from 1988 to 1992. From 1992 to 1996, Levine was self-employed as an investment manager. In 1996, Levine rejoined Family Dollar and served in various positions until he became Chief Executive Officer in August 1998. In July 2014, Levine oversaw the buyout of Family Dollar by

Dollar Tree Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American multi-price-point chain of discount variety stores. Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, it is a ''Fortune'' 500 company and operates 15,115 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada. Its ...

in a deal totaling $8.5 billion. Levine remained with the company following the merger and was appointed to Dollar Tree's board of directors. Levine stepped down as CEO on January 15, 2016.

Compensation

While CEO of Family Dollar in 2009, Howard R. Levine earned a total compensation of $5,612,726, which included a base salary of $948,654, a cash bonus of $1,894,615, stocks granted of $1,338,224, and options granted of $1,308,528.

Philanthropy

Levine established the Howard R. Levine Foundation, a donor-advised fund. As of 2015, it had $65 million in assets after a $45 million addition by Levine. In February 2017, Levine and his wife Julie donated $2 million to Providence Day school in Charlotte. The couple made a $100,000 matching gift through the foundation to the Time Out Youth Center's capital campaign in May 2017. Later in 2017, the foundation donated 500,000 to the Crisis Care Initiative.

Personal life

He has two children with his first wife. He is married to Dr. Julie Lerner Levine with whom he has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Howard R. American businesspeople in retailing American philanthropists Jewish American philanthropists Living people University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American retail chief executives