Matthew Bucksbaum (February 20, 1926 – November 24, 2013) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Matthew and his brothers Martin and Maurice co-founded

General Growth Properties GGP Inc. (an initialism of General Growth Properties) was an American commercial real estate company and the second-largest shopping mall operator in the United States. It was founded by brothers Martin, Matthew and Maurice Bucksbaum in Ceda ...

().

Early life and education

Bucksbaum 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 in

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...

, to Ida (Gervich) and Louis Bucksbaum. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Theatre as a

cryptographer Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...

based in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. He graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

''cum laude'' with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1949, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the Order of Artus.''Forbes'': "Matthew Bucksbaum & family"
2012''The Wall Street Journal'': "Matthew Bucksbaum - Founder and chairman emeritus, General Growth Properties Inc."
retrieved September 27, 2015 His family owned a chain of three grocery stores.

Career

In 1954, Bucksbaum and his brother Martin borrowed $1.2 million and built the first shopping center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, anchored by a fourth family grocery store.Keren Blankfeld
The Tarnishing of the Bucksbaum Family Legacy
''

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 r ...

'', August 18, 2010 They expanded into enclosed malls which mirrored the continued movement to the suburbs seen in the 1960s. By 1964, their company - then named General Management - owned five malls anchored by the

Younkers Younkers Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout Iowa ...

department store. In 1972, the company became publicly traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

under the name

() and became the second-largest owner, developer, and manager of regional shopping malls in the country.Bucksbaum Institute: "About Matthew And Carolyn Bucksbaum"
retrieved September 27, 2015 Bucksbaum served as its chairman and chief executive officer, and under his tenure he formed two

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

s and expanded the company's portfolio of malls and shopping centers via more than $36 billion in acquisitions. In 1984, General Growth sold 19 malls for $800 million to Equitable Real Estate, which was deemed the "nation's largest single asset real estate transaction" to date. In 1995, his brother Martin died and he re-located the company to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In 2004, General Growth purchased

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company ...

for $14.2 billion. By 2007, General Growth was the second-largest REIT owning 194 malls with over 200 million square feet in 44 states. In 2008, General Growth filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the collapse of the stock market.

Philanthropy

Bucksbaum sat on the board of trustees of the

Aspen Music Festival and School The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

, the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

and the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

. He was a president of the Temple B'nai Jeshurun and the

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

Mental Health Association, and a director of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, all in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. He donated $42 million to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

for the creation of the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence.

Personal life

Bucksbaum was married to Carolyn "Kay" (Swartz) Bucksbaum, who was also Jewish. They resided in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and had two children. Their son, John Bucksbaum, served as CEO of

from 1999 to 2008, and as its chairman from 2007 to 2010. Their daughter Ann Louise Bucksbaum is married to journalist

Thomas Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global ...

.Forbes: "Thomas Friedman is On Top of the World" by Garrett M. Graff
July 1, 2006 As of March 2011, he was worth an estimated US$1.2 billion.

Death

Bucksbaum died in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

of complications from Alzheimer's disease on November 24, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucksbaum, Matthew 1926 births 2013 deaths American billionaires American real estate businesspeople Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from Iowa Jewish American philanthropists People from Marshalltown, Iowa University of Iowa alumni American cryptographers Philanthropists from Illinois Mathematicians from Illinois Bucksbaum family