George D. Sax (April 14, 1904 – March 12, 1974) was an American businessman and hotelier, who served as the

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of Exchange International Corporation and Chicago's former Exchange National Bank (now part of

LaSalle Bank LaSalle Bank Corporation was the holding company for LaSalle Bank N.A. and LaSalle Bank Midwest N.A. (formerly Standard Federal Bank). With US$116 billion in assets, it was headquartered at 135 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois. La ...

). He was president of Sax Enterprises, Inc and was a business entrepreneur who owned the

Saxony Hotel The Faena Hotel Miami Beach is a historic resort hotel located at 3201 Collins Avenue Miami Beach. History The Saxony Hotel, completed in 1948, was one of the first luxury resorts on Miami Beach. Following the success of the Saxony, other hotels ...

, the first luxury hotel to be built in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

Biography

Sax was born and raised in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. He graduated from Brown's Business College (now Midstate College) in Peoria. In 1944, Sax took over Halsted Exchange National Bank after purchasing a controlling share. He renamed the bank The Exchange National Bank of Chicago and moved it to downtown Chicago. Sax is credited with the innovation of several banking practices that have since been adopted worldwide -

drive-through A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their c ...

banking and instant

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

s. Later in his banking career, Sax devised such practices as open credit accounts. The Exchange National Bank had 10 teller windows and was the first in the Loop to feature show windows. The Sax family maintained control of Exchange for over thirty years. After World War II, Sax was involved in another business venture - the building of the Saxony Hotel. The Saxony was the very first luxury hotel built in Miami Beach and was the first hotel to have central air-conditioning. Among the most lavish resorts in the country, the Saxony was frequently used by heads of state and featured rooms with glorious views, air conditioning, and complementary meals. His granddaughter, Anita Sax, is a children's book author and publisher. Anita Sax was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. Her passion for writing began at a young age after a school project led her to write her first short story. She has been writing ever since.

Accolades

In 1965, Sax received the

Horatio Alger Award The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to promote and ensure the American Dream for future generations, honor the achievements of outstanding Un ...

, an honor given to those who have achieved the American dream through hard work and adversity. Other notable Horatio Alger Award winners include former

U.S. Presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

, and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

founder

Ray Kroc Raymond Albert Kroc (October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984) was an American businessman who was instrumental in turning McDonald's into the most successful global fast food corporation by revenue. He purchased it from the McDonald Brothers in ...

and former

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin ( ; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three extravehicular activity, spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eag ...

External links and references

The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans: George D. Sax
- Biography from the association.
Historic Peoria: George D. Sax
- Biography American financial businesspeople American bankers American hoteliers People from Peoria, Illinois 1904 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1900s-stub