Leon Hess
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Leon Hess (March 14, 1914 – May 7, 1999) was an American businessman, the founder of the
Hess Corporation Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess Corporation) is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petrol ...
and the owner of the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
. Hess built an oil terminal in New Jersey after the Great Depression, building his first refinery in the late 1950s. He sold his company,
Hess Oil and Chemical Hess Oil and Chemical Corporation was a company founded in the early 1930s by Leon Hess of New Jersey to distribute heating oil. It expanded over the years to include refining and marketing of heating oil and other petroleum products through termi ...
, in 1963 and joined a consortium to buy the New York Jets. Hess was responsible for moving the Jets to
Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...
in
East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.
in 1984. In 1969, Hess acquired
Amerada Petroleum Corporation Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess Corporation) is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petrol ...
, one of the largest producers of crude oil in the United States. The acquisition saw Amerada merging with Hess Oil and Chemical to form the Amerada Hess Corporation. Hess served as chairman and CEO until 1995. He died at the age of 85 on May 7, 1999. Hess was posthumously inducted into the
New Jersey Hall of Fame The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond. The Hall of Fame is a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, overseen by ...
in 2011.


Early life

Hess was born on March 14, 1914,New York Times: "Leon Hess, Who Built a Major Oil Company and Owned the Jets, Is Dead at 85" By Gerald Eskenazi
May 08, 1999
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
Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188
. His parents were Ethel and Mores Hess, who was a
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
butcher who had emigrated from
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and—after arriving in the United States—worked as an oil delivery man in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Hess worked as a driver for his father's company and, after it went bankrupt in 1933 during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, he reorganized the company. He built an oil terminal in
Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...
out of old oil tankers and aggressively underbid his competitors to win Federal oil contracts. He served in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, rising to the rank of major, and serving as the fuel supply officer for General
George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
, where he further developed his logistical expertise.


Career

After the war, using a network of smaller terminals, Hess's success continued. In the late 1950s, he built his first refinery; and in 1960, he opened a chain of gas stations. In the early 1960s, he built the world's largest oil refinery at the time on St. Croix in the
United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...
to take advantage of federal tax benefits. The refinery was able to secure foreign refiner status (allowing it to circumvent the federal rule that required the use of higher-cost U.S.-flagged vessels when shipping oil to the East Coast) while also receiving subsidies from the
United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
as a domestic refinery. In 1963, his company, Hess Oil and Chemical, went public. In 1969, using the proceeds from the Hess sale, he acquired the
Amerada Petroleum Corporation Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess Corporation) is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petrol ...
, one of the largest producers of crude oil in the United States. As part of the purchase, he merged it with his former company, Hess Oil and Chemical, to form the Amerada Hess Corporation. Hess served as chairman 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 Amerada Hess until 1995.


New York Jets

In 1963, Hess was part of a consortium that bought the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
which included
Sonny Werblin David Abraham "Sonny" Werblin (March 17, 1910 – November 21, 1991) was a prominent entertainment industry executive and sports impresario who was an owner of the New York Jets and chairman of Madison Square Garden, and who built and managed the ...
,
Philip H. Iselin Philip H. Iselin (September 1, 1902 – December 28, 1976) was a New York City women's apparel manufacturer who was a shareholder and President of the New York Jets football team and Chairman of Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. He ...
, Townsend B. Martin, and Donald Lillis. His initial investment was $250,000. He bought out his partners: Werblin in 1968, the heirs of Iselin in 1977, Martin in 1981 and in 1984 became the sole owner of the club after purchasing the last quarter-share from Helen Dillon, Lillis' daughter. The Jets played in
Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...
. In 1984 Hess moved the team to
Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...
in
East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.
.


Personal life and death

In 1947, he married Norma Wilentz. Wilentz's father was former
Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limited. ...
David T. Wilentz David Theodore Wilentz (December 21, 1894 – July 6, 1988) was the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1934 to 1944. In 1935 he successfully prosecuted Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial. He was the father of Robert Wilentz, Ch ...
who prosecuted Bruno Richard Hauptmann in the
Lindbergh baby kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amwe ...
case. They had three children: Marlene Hess Zirin,
Constance H. Williams Constance Hess Williams (born June 27, 1944) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 17th District, from 2001 to 2009. She previously represented the 149th district in the Pennsylv ...
, and
John B. Hess John Barnett Hess (born April 5, 1954)"Profile: John Hess"
James D. Zirin. Hess died at
Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many unive ...
on May 7, 1999, from a "blood disease".


Legacy

In 2011, Hess was inducted into the
New Jersey Hall of Fame The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond. The Hall of Fame is a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, overseen by ...
. In 2014, the New York Jets selected Hess, along with former wide receiver
Wayne Chrebet Wayne Chrebet (born August 14, 1973) is a former American football wide receiver who played 11 seasons for the New York Jets of the National Football League from 1995 to 2005. High school and college career Chrebet grew up in Garfield, New J ...
, to be the year's inductees into its
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
. The Leon Hess Business School at
Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. There are about 4,400 full- ...
and the Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine of the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City were named for him.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Leon 1914 births 1999 deaths American businesspeople in the oil industry New York Jets owners Hess family People from Asbury Park, New Jersey Jewish American sportspeople American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jewish American military personnel United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army officers