Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American financier, a convicted felon, and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by Time as such in a 1956 article.
[1] A self-made millionaire by 28, Wolfson is credited with creating the modern hostile tender offer, which laid the technical framework to the leveraged buyout.
In later years, he was a major thoroughbred horse racing participant as the owner and breeder of 1978 American Triple Crown winner, Affirmed.
In 1957, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ordered a ten-day suspension of trading in stock in a company Wolfson held "to prevent fraudulent and manipulative practices".
The conviction eventually led to a scandal involving Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, who resigned in 1969 after returning a $20,000 retainer to a Wolfson foundation.
Wolfson was an outstanding athlete and an All-Southern end for Jacksonville's Andrew Jackson High School, who went to the University of Georgia to play football.
Capital Transit held the streetcar and bus service franchise for Washington, D.C.; it had been managed conservatively and beyond its physical assets had a $7 million cash reserve.[how?]
[9] The corporation won numerous multimillion-dollar contracts for high-profile projects, including the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, the United States Navy supercarrier Kitty Hawk and the Mackinac Bridge that linked Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas.
Wolfson became nationally known in 1955, when he unsuccessfully attempted a hostile takeover of Montgomery Ward and Co. His Universal Marion Co. owned the Miami Beach Sun and the Jacksonville Chronicle newspapers and made movies through a subsidiary.
[18] In 1971, Wolfson filed a complaint against Larry King—then a Miami radio host, later a CNN personality—for allegedly pocketing $5,000, part of a $25,000 payment destined for New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who was investigating President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
As a result of his efforts, the SEC began making hearing transcripts and testimony more available, and the U.S. Senate considered changing federal penal code to eliminate harsh sentences for first-time offenders.
[9] The Wolfsons' stable led all North American owners in money earned in 1978, 1979, and 1980 and was the Eclipse Award winners as top breeder in 1978.
Additionally, two of Wolfson sons, Steve and Gary, bred It's In The Air, American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly in 1978, in the name of Happy Valley Farm.
[22] At the age of 95, Wolfson succumbed to Alzheimer's disease and colon cancer, dying on December 30, 2007, his 35th wedding anniversary, in Bal Harbour, Florida.