Leonard I. Green (1934–2002) was an American businessman who was the founding partner of leveraged buyout firm

Leonard Green & Partners Leonard Green & Partners ("LGP") is an American private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles. The firm specializes in private equity investments. LGP has invested in over 95 companies since its inception, including Petc ...

and chairman of the board of the

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

Early life

Green was raised in Philadelphia, 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. In 1955, he earned a B.A. in economics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and in 1956, graduated with an M.B.A. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

's Wharton Graduate School.Los Angeles Times: "Leonard I. Green, 68; L.A. Opera Chief, Master of Friendly Takeover" by Dennis McLellan
October 26, 2002 In 1965, he received a law degree from Loyola University in Chicago.

Career

In 1969, Green co-founded the New York investment banking partnership, ''Gibbons, Green, van Amerongen,'' which specialized in management-led, non-hostile leveraged buyouts. In 1980, he moved to California and opened a branch office. In 1989, he left ''Gibbons, Green, van Amerongen'' and founded ''

'' based in Los Angeles. In 1992, Green's firm paid $40 million for Thrifty Drugs and in 1994, they purchased Payless Drugs for $1.2 billion, merging the two companies to form the largest drugstore chain in the Western U.S. with more than 1,080 outlets,

Thrifty Payless Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States. The combined company was formed in April 1994 when Los Angeles-based TCH Corporation, the pa ...

.Los Angeles Times: "Financier's Dealings Disclosed" by RALPH FRAMMOLINO
January 21, 2002 In April 1996, Thrifty Payless went public and then in October 1996, it was sold to

Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 lis ...

for $2.3 billion netting Green's firm a $420 million profit. Other companies that the firm acquired while Green was chairman were Carr-Gottstein Foods Co., Australian Resources Limited, and Big 5 Sporting Goods.Jewish Journal: "Leonard Green - Investment Banking Pioneer and L.A. Opera Chairman"
October 31, 2002

Philanthropy

In 1986, Green became a founding director of

serving as its president and chief executive from 1998 to 2001. He personally donated $2 million to the opera and was credited with recruiting

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

as artistic director. Green was also a member of the board of the

Music Center of Los Angeles County The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ...

Personal life and death

Green was married three times. In 1995, Green married his third wife, Jude Green, a physical therapist from Michigan; they divorced in 2000.Los Angeles Times: "Divorce, Pellicano-Style" by Kim Christensen
/ref> Green has two children: daughter Suzanne and son Steven. Green died in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Leonard I. 1934 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American financiers American investment bankers American money managers Cornell University alumni Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni American philanthropists Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni Private equity and venture capital investors 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews