Al Hoffman, Jr.
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Alfred Hoffman Jr. (born March 27, 1934) is an American businessman and politician. He is a real estate developer and a former Ambassador to Portugal.


Early life

Hoffman was raised on the south side of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, the youngest of seven children. His father, a Jewish Austrian, emigrated to the United States in 1906 and opened a poultry store, while his mother was a
Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (; ) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and cel ...
immigrant who grew up in
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
. Hoffman graduated from Morgan Park Military Academy in 1952, and was accepted to the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
that same year. He became a captain in the
Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
, where Hoffman flew F-100s. Instead of continuing his career in the air force, Hoffman attended
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
, where he became interested in real estate development.


Career

After leaving Harvard, Hoffman got a job for KB Homes, a developer in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. Hoffman rose to the rank of executive vice president. In 1967, Hoffman founded his own firm, Tekton Corp, which he sold to another company in 1970. In 1975, Hoffman founded another development company, Florida Design Communities, which bought land from struggling companies. In 1995, Hoffman and Don Ackerman bought Westinghouse Communities, which they renamed to WCI Communities. In 2002, ''
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'' described Hoffman as the most influential developer in the state of Florida. Hoffman's development activities were criticized by many environmentalists. Hoffman sold his stake in WCI in 2005 to become the Ambassador to Portugal, a post he held until 2007. In 2008, Hoffman founded Hoffman Partners, another real estate development company.


Other activities

Hoffman served as co-chair of
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
's 2000 campaign for president, and also served as finance chair of the
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
and the chairman of Florida Governor
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
's re-election campaign. Hoffman fundraised for
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
's 2008 candidacy and
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
's 2012 candidacy. Hoffman donated $1 million to
Right to Rise Right to Rise is a political action committee (PAC) created to support Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential election. A Super PAC, Right to Rise is permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of corporate, union, and individual campaign contrib ...
, a Super PAC supporting Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential candidacy. Hoffman served as chairman of
Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...
's successful 2010 Senate candidacy, but tried to dissuade Rubio from running for president in 2016. In 2010, Hoffman put his $10 million home in
Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...
up for auction, and moved to
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
. Following a February 2018 school shooting in Florida, Hoffman publicized an email sent to Florida governor
Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...
and former governor
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...
, among others, pledging to no longer fund legislative groups or candidates who were not actively working to ban sales of military-style assault weapons to civilians. "For how many years now have we been doing this — having these experiences of terrorism, mass killings — and how many years has it been that nothing's been done?" Hoffman said. "It's the end of the road for me."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Al Jr. 1934 births Living people American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Scottish descent Morgan Park Academy alumni United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Illinois United States Air Force officers Harvard Business School alumni American businesspeople in real estate Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from Palm Beach, Florida Florida Republicans American political fundraisers Jewish American government officials Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal American gun control activists 21st-century American Jews