Carl Henry Lindner III is an American

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He has served as the co-

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

American Financial Group American Financial Group, Inc. is an American financial services holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary businesses are insurance and investments. Lines of business American Financial Group's major insurance division ope ...

since January 2005. He has also acted as chief executive officer and majority owner of

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

since the club's founding in 2015. He is the son of Carl Lindner Jr. and a prominent member of the Lindner family.

Biography

Carl Lindner III was born to Carl Lindner Jr. and Edyth Bailey in 1953 in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio. He received a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in 1975. In 1975, Lindner began working at

, which his father had bought two years prior. He has served as chairman of Great American Insurance Company since 1987. He became a director and co-president of American Financial in 1996 and additionally was elected as the co-chief executive officer along with his brother S. Craig Lindner in January 2005. In 1989, Carl and Martha Lindner were involved as founders and major benefactors in Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, a private university-preparatory school in Cincinnati. In 2015, Lindner was involved in co-founding soccer club

, and is the chief executive officer and majority owner. Speaking about the success and high attendance the club received in its inaugural season, general manager Jeff Berding said, "What has happened is directly attributable to having Carl and the Lindner family as our majority owners. It's the foundation of everything." In 2016, the

bestowed an honorary doctorate to Lindner. In his State of the City speech in October 2016, Cincinnati mayor John Cranley named Jeff Berding and Carl Lindner III as the shared holders of the Cincinnatian of the Year award for their work managing FC Cincinnati. Lindner was appointed to the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Board of Trustees in March 2019 by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. His term ended in September 2024.

Personal life

Lindner has been identified as a "devout Christian," and begins each day with thirty minutes of prayer. He and his wife Martha have four children and three grandchildren and reside in Cincinnati.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindner, Carl III Living people 1954 births Lindner family Businesspeople from Ohio 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American businesspeople in insurance 21st-century American philanthropists FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati owners Major League Soccer owners American chief executives of professional sports organizations Businesspeople from Cincinnati USL Championship executives University of Cincinnati alumni