The Lindner family is a family that has been prominent in the

Cincinnati metropolitan area The Cincinnati metropolitan area and also known as the Cincinnati Tri-State area, or Greater Cincinnati) is a metropolitan area centered on Cincinnati and including surrounding counties in the U.S. states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The area ...

since the mid-20th century. They are known for their work in the insurance and investments business. As of 2015, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' ranks them as the 129th richest family in the United States. They are also known for their involvement in professional sports; Carl Jr. was a part owner and

CEO 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 especially ...

of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, Carl III is the majority owner and CEO of

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...

, and the family's contributions to the

Western & Southern Open The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...

led to its venue being titled the

Lindner Family Tennis Center The Lindner Family Tennis Center is a tennis facility in Mason, Ohio. It is the home of the Western & Southern Open and is owned by Tennis for Charity, Inc. The grounds include four permanent tennis stadia (Center Court, Grandstand Court, Court ...

History

The Lindner family's rise to prominence began with Carl Lindner Sr. opening a dairy processing plant in Norwood, Ohio in 1940. The business,

United Dairy Farmers United Dairy Farmers (UDF) is an American chain of shops offering dairy products as well as coffee and gasoline. UDF was started by Carl Lindner Sr. and his children in 1938. Almost as soon as they started operations, the Lindners began work on ...

, had expanded to thirty stores by 1960, and the family bought the

American Financial Group American Financial Group, Inc. is an American financial services holding company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary businesses are insurance and investments. Lines of business American Financial Group's major insurance division operates as ...

with their savings. By the mid-1960s, Carl Sr.'s sons were running the family's businesses: Carl Jr. was running American Financial Group, Robert was running United Dairy Farmers, and Richard was running the Thriftway Food Drug grocery chain, which later joined with Winn-Dixie. In 1975, Cincinnati-based American Financial Group, one of billionaire Carl Lindner, Jr.'s companies, bought into United Fruit Company. In August 1984, Lindner took control of the company and renamed it

Chiquita Brands International Chiquita Brands International Sàrl (), formerly known as Chiquita Brands International Inc. and United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botan ...

. In 1989, the Lindner family founded and funded the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. In 1999, Carl Jr. bought controlling ownership in the

, which he held until selling to Robert Castellini in 2005. In 2015, Carl III became majority owner and chief executive owner of the newly formed soccer club

References

Business families of the United States American families of German ancestry People from Norwood, Ohio {{US-business-bio-stub