Leonard A. Wilf (born 1947) is an American businessman, the president of

Garden Homes Garden Homes is an American real estate development company, founded in 1954. Garden Homes owns and manages over 50,000 apartments and over 25 million square feet of retail, office, and hotel space. Garden Homes, and its subsidiaries, offer home r ...

, the co-owner and vice chairman of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

football team, and co-owner of the

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

Early life

Leonard Wilf was born in

Göggingen Göggingen is a municipality in the district of Ostalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe a ...

, Germany, the son of Holocaust survivors Harry Wilf and Judith Wilf (died 2006). From the age of nine, he grew up in New Jersey. Wilf earned a B.A. degree from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, a J.D. degree from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and an LL.M. degree in taxation from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. Wilf grew up in

Hillside, New Jersey Hillside is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 21,404, reflecting a decline of 343 (−1.6%) from the 21,747 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in ...

in a home adjoining that of his cousin Zygi.

Career

Wilf is president of the family-owned real estate development company,

. With his cousins, brothers Zygi and

Mark Wilf Mark Wilf (born 1962) is an American businessman who is the president and co-owner of the Minnesota Vikings, and chairman and co-owner of Orlando City SC. Biography Born to a Jewish family, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Wilf, who were both Hol ...

, he co-owns the

football team. In August 2017, Wilf and his cousins became co-owners of the

alongside lead investor John Ingram. In 2015, the Wilf family had an estimated net worth of $5 billion.

Philanthropy

Wilf has sat on the Board of Trustees of

NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

since 2009. Wilf is chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem, and has been on the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...

Council.

Personal life

Wilf was married to the educator and philanthropist Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf. She is the daughter of

Saul Robbins Saul Robbins (February 16, 1922 – June 13, 2010) was an American toy manufacturer, the co-founder of Remco, with his cousin Isaac Heller. Personal life Saul Robbins was born on February 16, 1922,https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JTKG- ...

, the co-founder of the

Remco Remco Industries, Inc. was a toy company in the United States founded in the 1940s. It was best known for toys marketed and sold in the late 1950s and early 1960s, like the 'Johnny Reb Cannon', 'Mighty Matilda Atomic Aircraft Carrier', 'Remco Voi ...

toy company, and his wife Ruth. Their divorce negotiations took 12 years, with $20 million in fees for lawyers and accountants. According to Wilf, "I was divorced, married and had a baby all in one week." Wilf and his wife Beth have four children and live in New York City. He is a member of

Mountain Ridge Country Club A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

West Caldwell West Caldwell is a township located in the West Essex area in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located approximately west of Manhattan and northwest of Newark. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's pop ...

, and a keen golfer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilf, Leonard 1947 births Living people

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

American lawyers American real estate businesspeople Minnesota Vikings owners American people of Polish-Jewish descent New York University School of Law alumni Boston University alumni Georgetown University Law Center alumni American billionaires People from Hillside, New Jersey Nashville SC