Marion Sandler

Marion Osher Sandler (October 17, 1930 – June 1, 2012) was the co-CEO (with her husband Herbert Sandler) of Golden West Financial Corporation and World Savings Bank. In 2004, after 43 years running Golden West Financial Corporation, she was described by the Columbia School of Journalism as "the first and longest-serving woman chief executive officer in the United States."

Early life

Born Marion Osher in Biddeford, MaineZweigenhaft, Richard L., and Domhoff, G. William. ''The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies'' Published: 2014-03-18 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publisher
p 16
/ref> on October 17, 1930 to Samuel and Leah Osher, Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia.Los Angeles Times: "Marion Sandler dies at 81; World Savings Bank executive" By E. Scott Reckard
June 5, 2012 Her parents owned a hardware store and were successful in real estate. Her brother is Bernard Osher. She earned a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1952 and an MBA from New York University in 1958. She worked for two years as a buyer at Bloomingdale's before landing a job on Wall Street, as a securities analyst at Dominick & Dominick. She was the first woman hired by the firm who was not a receptionist.

Career

In 1963, with $3.8 million in funding from her brother, Bernard, who was a successful businessman, she and her husband created a holding company, Golden West Financial Corporation, and acquired Golden West Savings and Loan Association (renamed the World Savings Bank) in California. At the time it was a small institution with one branch. The Sandlers tried new products, and Golden West became the first institution to offer adjustable rate mortgages. Golden West grew into one of the largest thrifts in the U.S. with assets of approximately $125 billion, deposits of $60 billion, and 12,000 employees. Under the Sandlers' management, Golden West generated a 19 percent average annual compound growth in earnings per share over a 39-year period. The company was described as "one of the most efficient and productive money machines on the planet", and was included 10 times in ''Fortune'' magazine's annual list of the United States' most admired companies. The Sandlers were also named "2004 CEOs of the Year" by Morningstar, Inc.

Golden West was sold in October 2006 for $24 billion to Wachovia Bank. The Sandlers owned about 10% of the company at the time of the sale, making their share of the sale price worth $2.4 billion. Of this the Sandlers gave $1.3 billion to the Sandler Foundation.

Philanthropy

The Sandlers helped found and are among the largest benefactors of the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization fighting predatory mortgage lending, payday loans, and other products that prey on consumers; the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank; ProPublica, an investigative reporting newsroom; and the American Asthma Foundation. In addition, the Sandlers or their foundation support organizations involved in medical research, the environment, human rights, and civil liberties.

Personal life

In 1961, she married Herbert Sandler. They had two children, Susan Sandler and James Sandler.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandler, Marion
1930 births
2012 deaths
American bankers
American billionaires
American chief executives of financial services companies
American women bankers
American women chief executives
Businesspeople from California
Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area
Giving Pledgers
21st-century philanthropists
Stern College for Women alumni
Wellesley College alumni
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American businesswomen
20th-century American philanthropists
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women