Rex Sinquefield
Rex Andrew Sinquefield[1] (/ˈsɪŋkfiːld/; born September 7, 1944)[2] is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who has been called an "index-fund pioneer" for creating the first passively managed index fund open to the general public.
Sinquefield and his brother were placed in a local Catholic orphanage,[3] the Saint Vincent Home for Children in St. Louis, Missouri.
[6] Sinquefield worked at the American National Bank of Chicago, developing, in 1973, the first S&P 500 passively managed index fund.
[3] In May 1974, in the depths of the worst bear market since the 1930s, Sinquefield and Roger Ibbotson made a brash prediction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average, floundering in the 800s at the time, would hit 9,218 in 1998 and 10,000 by November 1999.
On his return to St. Louis, Sinquefield co-founded the Show-Me Institute with R. Crosby Kemper III, a Kansas City banker.
[19] He is president of the institute, whose motto is “Advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for Missouri public policy.”[3] Show-Me has successfully lobbied for a cable franchise reform bill and HB 818, which made Missouri the first state to let employers contribute pretax dollars to employees' health-savings accounts.
Sinquefield has also donated to Missouri candidates Shane Schoeller, Chris Koster, and Sarah Steelman, as well as to the 2016 gubernatorial campaign of Catherine Hanaway.
[28] In 2021, Sinquefield donated $250,000 to two campaigns: Scott Fitzpatrick's bid for state auditor and Mike Kehoe's prospective candidacy for governor in 2024.
[32] In 2017, the Republican-controlled Legislature of Kansas voted to roll back the cuts and overrode Brownback's veto.
[33] Sinquefield also has repeatedly backed measures to repeal the earnings taxes of St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri.
Called Proposition A, it would prevent all Missouri communities except Kansas City and St. Louis from imposing earnings taxes.
The petitions also called for a higher sales tax, capped at seven percent, that would be applied to virtually any good or service transaction involving individuals.
[38] Sinquefield supported the successful effort to return local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to the City of St.
[42] Local control, the Proposition A ballot initiative, received broad support,[44] including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay,[42] and the Missouri Democratic Party[45][46] On February 22, 2011, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 71, the local measure in that body, by a vote of 109–46.
[47] Rex Sinquefield has been deeply involved in efforts to privatize the St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
The foundation has donated in particular to the Today and Tomorrow Education Foundation, the Children's Education Alliance of Missouri, the Special Learning Center, the Dual Masters Scholarship Program at Saint Louis University, the St. Louis Chess Club, World Chess Hall of Fame, and the Mizzou New Music Initiative.
[53] Sinquefield is a director of St. Vincent Home for Children in St. Louis, and a life trustee of DePaul University.
[5] Since the 2000s, Sinquefield has spent tens of millions of dollars to boost chess in St. Louis and the United States, believing that the game can transform children and their academic lives.
