Allen Eugene Paulson (April 22, 1922 – July 19, 2000) was an American businessman.

Business career in aviation

Born in Clinton,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, Allen E. Paulson was on his own at age 13, supporting himself selling

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s and doing

janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...

ial work at local

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

until he moved to California in 1937. There, he worked on a

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

to pay his way through school. After finishing high school in 1941, he took a 30-cent-per-hour job as an entry-level mechanic for TWA.Paulson's Journey To Top As Methodical As Cigar's
Retrieved 31 July 2011. In 1943-45 he served in the US Army Air Corps and spent a year studying engineering at the University of West Virginia.Former Gulfstream Chief Dead at 78
Retrieved 31 July 2011. After the war, he went back to TWA, this time as a flight engineer, and used his

GI Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, but the te ...

to get his pilot's license. He then began flying commercially for TWA. Using his TWA travel privileges, he began flying to Chicago to buy cars that he drove back to California to sell. Soon, he had a van and was transporting a number of vehicles on every trip. He left TWA to form his own company in 1951, first buying surplus

Wright R-3350 The Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone is an American twin-row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine with 18 cylinders displacing nearly . Power ranged from , depending on model. Developed before World War II, the R-3350's design requi ...

engines from Boeing B-29s and selling the parts to airlines. In 1955, he purchased his first aircraft for resale, stripping the aircraft for parts and scrapping the rest and later rebuilding one aircraft for resale out of the parts of several.Truth, Often Stranger Than Fiction...
Retrieved 31 July 2011. The first airplanes he bought were three

Convair 240 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mex ...

had turned to Lockheed Electras. Later, he bought all of TWA's Martin 404s. He sold those, along with Convair 240 and 340 models, for corporate airplanes. His company, the California Airmotive Corp., became one of the largest dealers in second-hand aircraft (particularly second-hand airliners) in the world. At one time he had 35

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...

s of various models, 22

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete ...

s and DC-7s and 4 other airliners in storage at Fox Field in Lancaster, California in 1970/71, not to mention other aircraft at other airfields such as Burbank. A subsidiary company during the early 1960s was West Coast Airmotive Corporation. Allen Paulson bought out the Pacific Airmotive Corp. at Burbank and started converting various types of passenger transport to freighters. Several Lockheed Constellations were rebuilt by Paulson's company and converted to freighter aircraft. California Airmotive was renamed American Jet Industries in 1973. In November 1970, he and his friend

Clay Lacy Hershel Clay Lacy (born August 14, 1932) is the founder and former CEO of Clay Lacy Aviation, established in 1968 as the first executive jet charter company in the Western United States. His professional resume includes pilot in command, airlin ...

entered an ex-American Airlines Douglas DC-7BF (N759Z msn 45233) in the California 1000 Mile Air Race at Mojave. Named "Super Snoopy", the airplane finished in a commendable sixth place in a field of twenty and still had 1,500 gallons of fuel remaining at the end. One writer observed during the race that the DC-7 flew lower than some of the single-engined aircraft and that it flew faster and made better pylon turns than a competing

Douglas A-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and attack aircraft, ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during ...

. The race was won by a

Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy. Developed during the Second World War, the Sea Fury entered service two year ...

in 2 hours 52 minutes and 38 seconds at an average speed of 344.08 mph. When a second 1000-mile race was scheduled for Brown Field near San Diego, California in July 1971, the Paulson teamed with Lockheed test pilot Herman "Fish" Salmon and entered Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation N9723C the "Red Baron", which once served Qantas as VH-EAP "Southern Zephyr", while Clay Lacy entered "Super Snoopy". The "Red Baron" qualified for the race, rounding the pylons at 200 feet. The other pilots entered in the race held a meeting the night prior to the race, and advised

Darryl Greenamyer Darryl George Greenamyer (August 13, 1936 – October 1, 2018) was an American aviator. He started his flying career in the US Air Force Reserve. After leaving the Air Force, he then began to work at Lockheed where he eventually became an SR-71 ...

, who was in charge of the race arrangements, that if the two big airplanes participated, they wouldn't, so the two aircraft were withdrawn. In 1970, Paulson began to develop the American Jet Hustler, a corporate aircraft that featured a propeller in front for short runway use, and a jet in back for high-altitude cruising. The concept was a pressurised business aircraft powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6 in the nose and equipped with a standby Teledyne Continental turbine unit in the tail. The aircraft first flew on January 11, 1978, but never entered production. In 1978, he seized the opportunity to buy the Grumman American plants and offices from Grumman for $52 million, forming the Gulfstream American Corporation.Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
Retrieved 31 July 2011. In 1982, he bought

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...

's aviation division in Oklahoma and combined it with Gulfstream American to form

Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is an American aircraft company and a subsidiary of General Dynamics. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 2,000 aircraft sinc ...

. Paulson transformed the company into the world's largest manufacturer of private jets. Sales increased to $1 billion yearly. In June 1985, he sold the company to

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

for $637 million. He was awarded the Clarence E. Page Memorial Trophy from the Oklahoma Air and Space Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1990, with the assistance of

Forstmann Little & Company Forstmann, Little & Company was an American private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). At its peak in the late 1990s, Forstmann Little was among the largest private equity firms globally. Ultimately, the firm would suffer fro ...

, Paulson purchased all 25 million shares of Gulfstream's common stock from Chrysler, an investment of some $825 million. Paulson announced his retirement in January 1992 and his shares in the company were purchased by Forstmann Little. 20-02-1054-paulson

In 1990, Paulson and a Gulfstream flight crew set 35 international records for around-the-world flight in a

Gulfstream IV The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or Business jet, business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, ...

aircraft. In 1987 he won the

Harmon Trophy The Harmon Trophy is a set of three international trophies, to be awarded annually to the world's outstanding aviator, aviatrix, and aeronaut (balloon or dirigible). A fourth trophy, the "National Trophy", was awarded from 1926 through 1938 in av ...

as the world's outstanding aviator, and in 1992 was inducted into the

Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame The Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame recognizes aviation pioneers and contributors associated with the U.S. state, state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The museum was created in 1989 by Governor Joe Frank Harris signing House Bill 110. The law cal ...

. Allen E. Paulson received numerous other awards during his lifetime including five honorary doctorates, the Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation by the National Business Aviation Association, Inc. and the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

Other business interests

In the early 1990s, Paulson bought many automotive dealerships in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

, where he resided. He bought the Ford,

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

Lincoln-Mercury Mercury was a brand of medium-priced automobiles that was produced by American manufacturer Ford Motor Company between the 1939 and 2011 motor years. Created by Edsel Ford in 1938, Mercury was established to bridge the gap between the Ford and ...

, Infiniti, and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

franchises in the area and opened a

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

dealership in Beverly Hills. In 1993, he and his wife Madeleine bought the Del Mar Country Club in

Rancho Santa Fe, California Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential w ...

Thoroughbred horse racing

In 1983, Allen Paulson got involved in the sport of

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

. He eventually became a significant force in racing in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. A major breeder, he operated horse farms in Kentucky, Florida and California His first American Champion in racing was Estrapade, the 1986

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division. The trophy is made by a few small selected A ...

winner as

American Champion Female Turf Horse The American Champion Female Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. It is part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to a female horse (filly or mare) for her performance on grass race courses. Until 1978 t ...

. He owned Arazi, the 1991

European Horse of the Year The Cartier Racing Awards are awards in European horse racing, founded in 1991, and sponsored by Cartier SA, Cartier. The award winners are decided by points earned in group races (40%) plus the votes cast by British racing journalists (30%) and re ...

for whom Sheikh Mohammed paid him $9 million for a half interest. He also owned the Champion filly

Azeri Azeri or Azeri Turk may refer to: * Azeri people, an ethnic group also known as Azerbaijanis * Citizens of Azerbaijan * Azeri language, the modern-day Turkic language * Old Azeri, an extinct Iranian language * Azeri Turk (journal), Academic jour ...

, although he did not live to see her compete, but his son, Michael, campaigned Azeri over three championship seasons for Paulson's trust. Paulson's most famous American horse was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee,

Cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

, a darling of race fans and the media alike who captured the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Champion ...

, the first

Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operate ...

, and was voted

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, or simply Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to san ...

in 1995 and 1996 while winning a record 16 straight races. Allen Paulson owned more than 115 winners of

graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is th ...

s. His horses won a record eight

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

races and earned him more

purse money than any other stable owner. He was voted the American Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner in 1995 and 1996, the 1993 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder, and the American Thoroughbred horse racing industry's highest honor, the Eclipse Award of Merit. Paulson's accomplishments in the thoroughbred racing arena were numerous, including earning nearly 20 'Eclipse Awards' during his 17 years in the business, and two Hall of Fame horses, Azeri and Cigar. Paulson is still the 'all time' leading owner of 'Breeders' Cup' champion horses and earnings.

Gaming

In 1994, Paulson bought a 17.5 percent stake in casino operator Full House Resorts and became chairman and CEO. He would lead the company until his death. Separate from Full House, Paulson took ownership of the Gold River casino in

Laughlin, Nevada Laughlin () is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States. Laughlin lies south of Las Vegas, in the far southern tip of Nevada. As a resort town, it is known for its gaming and water recreation. As of the 2020 census, t ...

in 1997, having paid an estimated $28 million for the bankrupt property's $90 million in debt. He also agreed to buy the

Riviera () is an Italian word which means , ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria (the Genoa region in northwestern Italy) in the form , then shortened in English. Riviera may a ...

and Four Queens casinos in Las Vegas for $304 million, but later canceled the deal, stating he was given inadequate financial information.

Philanthropy

A supporter of

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public university, public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, Georgia, Statesboro, with ...

, his company created the "Gulfstream Scholarships" in engineering technology and as a major benefactor, the University named the "Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology" in his honor as well as the Allen E. Paulson Stadium. Allen E. Paulson died in 2000 in hospital near

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

at age 78. He is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

References

External links

Allen E. Paulson Stadium at Georgia Southern University

Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology at Georgia Southern University
* Bowen, Edward L. '' Legacies of the Turf'' (2003)

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Public ...

* ''A Jet Powered Life, Allen E. Paulson, Aviation Entrepreneur''. Donald J. Porter. McFarland @ Company, Inc., 2019. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/a-jet-powered-life/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulson, Allen E. 1922 births 2000 deaths American aerospace engineers American aviation businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II American racehorse owners and breeders Aviators from Iowa Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Businesspeople from Iowa Eclipse Award winners Harmon Trophy winners People from Clinton, Iowa Military personnel from Iowa United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American businesspeople American aviation record holders 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American philanthropists