John Langeloth Loeb Sr. (November 11, 1902 – December 8, 1996) was an American investor and executive who served as president of Loeb, Rhoades & Company.

Early life and education

Loeb 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 on November 11, 1902, in St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, the son of Adeline (née Moses) and

Carl M. Loeb Carl Morris Loeb was a German-born American businessman who served as the president of the American Metal Company and the founder of Carl M. Loeb & Co, which became Loeb, Rhoades & Co. in 1938. Early life and education Carl Morris Loeb was b ...

.Jewish Women's Archive: "Creator of Central Park Boathouse Adeline Moses Loeb dies"
November 28, 1953 His father was an immigrant from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

who made a fortune after gaining control of the American Metal Company (founded by Berthold Hochschild and Jacob Langeloth) Jacob Longeloth was his father's mentor hence his son's middle name.Immigrant Entrepreneurship - German-American Business Biographies: "Despite not belonging to one of the elite New York Jewish banking families, Carl Morris Loeb became president of American Metal Company
and later established his own investment firm Carl M. Loeb & Co."] retrieved September 22, 2017 His mother was the daughter of Alabama banker, Alfred Huger Moses. He had three siblings: Carl M. Loeb Jr., Henry A. Loeb and Margaret Loeb Kempner (married to

Alan H. Kempner Alan Horace Kempner (July 4, 1897 – December 17, 1985) was an American stockbroker, publishing executive, rare books and manuscripts collector, and philanthropist. Early life and education Kempner was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, before att ...

). Loeb attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and then transferred to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

where he graduated in 1924.

Career

After school, he worked for the American Metal Company in Pittsburgh and in 1929, he went to work for

Maurice Wertheim Maurice Wertheim (February 16, 1886 – May 27, 1950) was an American investment banker, chess player, chess patron, art collector, environmentalist, and philanthropist. Wertheim founded Wertheim & Co. in 1927. Biography Born to a Jewish family ...

Wertheim & Company Wertheim & Co. was an investment firm founded in 1927 by Maurice Wertheim and Joseph Klingenstein, who met when they worked together at Hallgarten & Company. The firm engaged primarily in the merchant-banking business; it invested (in companies ...

. In 1931, he and his father co-founded the Carl M. Loeb & Company in order to manage the family’s holdings with the firm paying $250,000 to become a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Loeb served as a partner. In 1937, the firm merged with Rhoades & Company to form Loeb, Rhoades & Company. During World War II - from 1942 to 1944 - he worked for the

United States Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

and the

Office of War Mobilization The Office of War Mobilization (OWM) was an independent agency of the United States government formed during World War II to coordinate all government agencies involved in the war effort. It was formed on May 27, 1943 by Executive Order 9347. ...

. In 1955, Loeb became a senior partner in the firm. In 1964, he organized the National Independent Committee for President Lyndon B. Johnson and Senator

Hubert H. Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

. In 1973, he pleaded no contest to three federal charges of disguising campaign contributions to Senator Hubert H. Humphrey's 1972 Presidential primary campaign. In 1977, he became chairman and CEO. In 1978, Loeb, Rhoades & Company merged with

Hornblower, Weeks, Noyes & Trask Hornblower & Weeks was an investment banking and brokerage firm founded by Henry Hornblower and John W. Weeks in 1888. At its peak in the late 1970s, Hornblower ranked eighth among member firms of the New York Stock Exchange in number of retail o ...

to form

Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower & Company Loeb, Rhoades & Co. was a Wall Street brokerage firm founded in 1931 and acquired in 1979 by Sanford I. Weill's Shearson Hayden Stone. Although the firm would operate as Shearson Loeb Rhoades for two years, the firm would ultimately be acquired i ...

; Loeb became co-chairman of the combined firm's finance committee. In 1979, Loeb, Rhoades, Hornblower, & Company merged with

Shearson Hayden Stone Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonShearson Loeb Rhoades & Company. In 1981, Shearson Loeb Rhoades & Company was acquired by the

American Express Company American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

, becoming

Shearson Lehman/American Express Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonDome Petroleum Dome Petroleum Limited was a Calgary-based oil and gas company. Founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of the Toronto company Dome Mines Limited, Dome was built by Jack Gallagher, who remained with the company until 1983. In 1988 Dome was purchased by ...

Allied Chemical Allied Corp. was a major American company with operations in the chemical, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas industries. It was initially formed in 1920 as the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation as an amalgamation of five chemical companies. In ...

Seagrams The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...

, General Instrument, Arlen Realty, the Empire Trust Company, the Rome Cable Company, the National Radiator Company, and Deltec. He also served as governor of the New York Stock Exchange and as a member of the advisory committee of the Bank of New York. He operated the Loeb Partners Corporation, a boutique investment banking firm.

Philanthropy

Loeb was an active philanthropist who donated over $200 million in his lifetime. In 1995, he donated $70.5 million to Harvard University, the largest gift Harvard had ever received from a living donor. The Frances L. Loeb Library, the Loeb Drama Center and numerous Loeb fellowships all carry his surname. He donated $7 million to New York University. Being Jewish as well as a close friend of Jerusalem mayor

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 197 ...

, he was a financial supporter of Israel where he funded the building of the Jewish Community Center in

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

. Loeb served as the chairman of the Institute of Fine Arts, a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, as chairman and chief executive of the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, and as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.

Personal life

In 1926, Loeb married

Frances Lehman The Lehman family is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgenthau, Loeb, and Bronfman families. The ...

, the daughter of

Adele Lewisohn Lehman Adele Lewisohn Lehman (May 17, 1882 – August 11, 1965) was an American philanthropist and member of the Lehman family. Biography Adele Lewisohn Lehman was born to a Jewish family on May 17, 1882 in New York City, the daughter of Emma (née Cah ...

and Arthur Lehman of Lehman Brothers and grand-daughter of Adolph Lewisohn. The couple had two sons:

John Langeloth Loeb Jr. John Langeloth Loeb Jr. CBE (born May 2, 1930) is an American businessman, former United States Ambassador to Denmark, and former Delegate to the United Nations. He is an advocate for religious freedom and separation of church and state, having fo ...

, former United States Ambassador to Denmark, and bookstore owner Arthur Lehman Loeb; as well as three daughters: Ann Loeb Bronfman (twin to Arthur), a Bennington College graduate who married

Edgar Bronfman Sr. Edgar Miles Bronfman (born June 20, 1929 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman. He worked for his family's distilled beverage firm, Seagram, eventually becoming president, treasurer and CEO. As president of the World Jewish ...

; Judith Loeb Chiara, a Vassar and Barnard College graduate who married Marco Chiara, son of Italian novelist

Piero Chiara Piero Chiara (March 23, 1913 – December 31, 1986) was an Italian writer. He was born in Luino, on Lake Maggiore (northern Italy). His father Eugenio was from Resuttano, Sicily; his mother Virginia Maffei was from Comnago, a Piedmontese village ...

; and Deborah Loeb Brice, who was educated at the

Madeira School The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, private, day and boarding college-preparatory school for girls in McLean, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing. History Ori ...

. He and his wife were collectors of French Impressionist paintings including Manet, Pissaro, Degas, Cezanne, and Renoir. Loeb had homes in Manhattan,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet in the town and village of Harrison, in Westchester County, New York, United States. One myth explains that its name is derived from Harrison's purchase, where John Harrison was to be granted as much land as he could ride in ...

, and Lyford Cay,

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

, Bahamas. His portrait was painted by Salvador Dalí in 1958
Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loeb Sr., John Langeloth 1902 births 1996 deaths Jewish American philanthropists Lehman family Harvard University alumni Dartmouth College alumni Carl M. Loeb family American people of German-Jewish descent