Harold FitzGerald "Gerry" Lenfest (May 29, 1930 – August 5, 2018) was an American lawyer,

media executive A media proprietor, also called a media executive, media mogul, media tycoon, or press baron is an entrepreneur who controls any means of public or commercial mass media, through the personal ownership or holding of a dominant position within a ...

, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

. Lenfest, along with his wife Marguerite, were among the most prominent

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based philanthropists in his last two decades, donating more than $1.3 billion to 1,100 groups, supporting various educational, artistic, journalistic, and healthcare causes.

Early life and education

Lenfest was born on May 29, 1930, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, then grew up in

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coterminous municipality, coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate ...

, and

Hunterdon County, New Jersey Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 census, the county was the state's 4th-least populous county,Beyond philanthropy, Lenfests show personal commitment
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' (May 10, 2009). His father was a

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

; his mother died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

when he was 13. He had a twin sister, Marie Lenfest Schmitz. He attended Flemington High School in New Jersey and (for one year) the

George School George School is a private Quaker (Society of Friends) boarding and day high school located on a rural campus in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania ( Newtown postal address). It has been at that site since its founding in 1893, an ...

in Newtown, Pennsylvania, before graduating from

Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent college-preparatory boarding and day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximately 4 ...

. Lenfest went on to receive his B.A. in economics from

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

in 1953. Lenfest played on the Washington & Lee soccer team and was a member of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

. Former W&L Trustee H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest '53, '55L Dies at 88
(press release), Washington and Lee University (August 6, 2018). He attended

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

, graduating with an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1958.

Career

He served in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

between college and law school. He later served for 24 years in the

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

, attaining the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

.Melissa Gomez and Mihir Zaveri
H.F. Lenfest, Philanthropist and Owner of Philadelphia’s Newspapers, Dies at 88
''New York Times'' (August 5, 2018). After graduating from Columbia Law School, Lenfest worked at the firm of

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, commonly known as Davis Polk, is an American multinational corporation, multinational law firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, London, Madrid, Brussel ...

before becoming, in 1965, associate counsel to

Triangle Publications Triangle Publications Inc. was an American media group based first in Philadelphia, and later in Radnor, Pennsylvania. It was a privately held corporation, with the majority of its stock owned by Walter Annenberg and his sisters. Its holdings ...

, Inc., the media company controlled by

Walter Annenberg Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer' ...

. The company owned the ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...

'', ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'', and '' Seventeen'' magazine, as well as various television stations, radio stations, and cable enterprises. In 1970, he was named head of the Communications Division at Triangle. He formed Lenfest Communications Inc. (LCI) in 1974; using funds from loans and two investors, the new

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

company purchased two cable systems with 7,600 customers from Annenberg. Based in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

,Comcast to Purchase Lenfest Communications
Bloomberg News (November 17, 1999). LCI grew and had become the largest cable operator in the

Delaware Valley The Philadelphia metropolitan area, also known as Greater Philadelphia and informally called the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia tri-state area, and locally and colloquially Philly–Jersey–Delaware, is a major metropolitan area in the Nor ...

by the late 1990s, with a base of 1.2 million subscribers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Lenfest was also president of Suburban Cable TV Co. Inc., a subsidiary of LCI.

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

eventually acquired a one-half ownership interest in LCI. In November 1999, Lenfest reached an agreement to sell the remaining half of LCI (including Suburban Cable) to AT&T; as part of a complex transaction, AT&T then immediately sold the Lenfest company to

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

for $6.7 billion in stock and debt. At the time of the sale, LCI was the ninth-largest cable television operator in the United States.Comcast Completes Acquisition of Lenfest
Comcast Corporation (January 18, 2023). The transaction was completed in January 2000. AT&T's sale of Lenfest Communications to Comcast helped AT&T gain regulatory approval for its purchase of

MediaOne Comcast MO Group, Inc. (formerly MediaOne Group, Inc.) is a telecommunications company created by US West Inc. in 1998 following US West's acquisition of Boston-based Continental Cable. The company combined Continental with Wometco/GTC, which US ...

. Lenfest and his wife received $1.2 billion from the sale of LCI. Lenfest's wife Marguerite B. Lenfest, played an active role in the family's businesses. Of the proceeds, Lenfest took $60 million, giving half to the company's managers and the other half to the company's other employees, citing their role in making LCI a success. Lenfest was chairman of the board of TelVue Corporation from 1989 to 2017.

Philanthropy

Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest were among the most prominent

-based philanthropists in his last two decades, donating more than $1.3 billion to 1,100 groups, supporting various educational, artistic, journalistic, and healthcare causes. They began their philanthropy before 2000, but began making massive charitable contributions after the sale of LCI.Neal Zoren
Television: Lenfest's legacy will never be outdone
''The Times Herald'' (Norristown, Pa.) (August 12, 2018). They pledged to donate their entire fortune to worthy causes. The couple was critical of perpetual foundations, deciding to give away the bulk of their wealth during their lifetime, and to wind down their foundation no later than 30 years after their deaths. They also opted not to establish a family foundations, believing in individual giving instead. Gerry Lenfest cited agreement with

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

's idea that "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced."In Memoriam: H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest LAW'58, Supporter of Columbia Faculty, the Law School, the Arts
''Columbia College Today'' (fall 2018), Columbia University. The scale of the Lenfests' contributions in the Philadelphia region is rivaled only by the contributions of the

Annenberg Annenberg may refer to: * Annenberg (surname) * The Annenberg Foundation, formerly Annenberg/CPB, known for funding educational television and the Annenberg Channel * Annenberg School for Communication (disambiguation) ** The USC Annenberg School f ...

and Haas families. Lenfest became friendly with Keith Leaphart, who cleaned Lenfest's office. The two went on to become businesses associates and Leaphart became chair of the Lenfest Foundation.

Education

By the time of his death, the Lenfests had contributed at least $155 million to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. The university's president, Lee C. Bollinger, said in 2009 that the Lenfests were "the fourth-most-generous donors to Columbia" in the institution's history, giving more than $100 million up to that point. In addition to his contributions to his alma mater,

, Lenfest also made contributions to Columbia's

Earth Institute {{Infobox organization , name = The Earth Institute , image = Ei blue1.gif , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , map2 = , type = , tax_id ...

Columbia Medical School The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving ...

, and arts and sciences programs. In 2011, Lenfest pledged $30 million for construction of a multi-arts venue, the Lenfest Center for the Arts, at Columbia's

Manhattanville Manhattanville (also known as West Harlem or West Central Harlem, after its location near Harlem) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is bordered on the north by 135th Street (Manhattan), 13 ...

campus; the Center, designed by

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

's architectural firm, opened in 2017.Lenfest Center for the Arts Opens in Manhattanville
Columbia University (April 18, 2017) The Lenfests also donated $109 million to

, $81 million to

(Gerry's alma mater), $40 million to Wilson College (Marguerite's alma mater), $32 million to the Lenfest Scholars Program, $20.5 million to the

Williamson College of the Trades Williamson College of the Trades (formerly Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades) is a private men's junior vocational college in Media, Pennsylvania. The school was founded on December 1, 1888, by Philadelphia merchant and philanthrop ...

, $13.9 million to

Teach for America Teach For America (TFA) is an American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational excell ...

, $10.2 million to

Mastery Charter Schools Mastery Schools is a network of 24 charter schools with over 14,000 students in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. It is headquartered at the Mastery Charter Pickett Campus in Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown () is an area ...

, $10 million to the Lenfest Prep School Scholarship Program, $8.5 million to

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, $7.7 million to the Lenfest College Scholarship Program, $7.6 million to

Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a campus. Ursinus College's forerunner was the Freeland Seminary founded in 1848. Its $127 million endowment supports about 1, ...

, and $6.4 million to

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

. Lenfest was a member of the Washington and Lee University board of trustees from 1989 to 1998. He was a member of the board of trustees of Temple University from 2013 until his death in 2018.Noted philanthropist Marguerite Lenfest appointed to Board of Trustees
Temple University (January 14, 2019). He served for a period as the Temple board's vice chairman. In 2019, Marguerite Lenfest joined the Temple board of trustees. Lenfest's donations to Temple University funded the construction of the Joe First Media Center for the Klein College of Media and Communication, the renovation of the Lew Klein Hall at the Temple Performing Arts Center, and restoration work at the East Park Canoe House, which houses the university's rowing and crew teams."Gerry" Lenfest, Temple supporter who shaped Philadelphia, dies at 88
Temple University (August 6, 2018). Although he was not himself a rower, Lenfest was a longtime admirer of Philadelphia's

Boathouse Row Boathouse Row is a historic site which is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the east bank of the Schuylkill River just north of the Fairmount Water Works and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It consists of a row of fifteen boathouses housi ...

, and believed preserving the heritage of the sport on the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

was important.

Arts and culture

Gerry Lenfest served on the boards of many cultural institutions in Philadelphia; at one point, Lenfest simultaneously served on the boards of the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

, the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

, and

Museum of the American Revolution The Museum of the American Revolution, formerly The American Revolution Center, is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania dedicated to telling the story of the American Revolution. The museum was opened to the public on April 19, 2017, the 242nd a ...

. Marguerite Lenfest also served on the board of various institutions, including the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

. The Lenfests gave the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia $63.6 million in endowment. Lenfest Hall, which opened in 2011 and was designed by the architectural firm of

Robert Venturi Robert Charles Venturi Jr. (June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018) was an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Together with his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown, he helped shape the way that ...

, is named in his honor.

Inga Saffron Inga Saffron (born November 9, 1957) is an American journalist and architecture critic. She won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism while writing for ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Early life and education Saffron was raised in Levittown, New Y ...

Changing Skyline: Design of Curtis Institute's Lenfest Hall has strong points but lacks spark
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' (August 19, 2011). Lenfest was elected a trustee of the

in 1993, and became chairman of the museum's board in 2001. He was chairman of the board of trustees of the

from 2006 to 2014; he was succeeded as board chair by Nina, Baroness von

Maltzahn The House of Maltzahn or Maltzan is the name of an ancient German noble family of the counts and barons von Maltza(h)n which originated from Mecklenburg, Germany, and were first mentioned in a document in 1194. Members occupied many important posit ...

. The Lenfests collected works by painters in the Pennsylvania Impressionism movement; in 1999, they donated 59 paintings, as well as $3 million, to the James A. Michener Art Museum in

Doylestown, Pennsylvania Doylestown is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the borough population was 8,300. Doylestown is located northwest of Trent ...

, and later acquired three additional paintings by

Edward Willis Redfield Edward Willis Redfield (December 18, 1869 – October 19, 1965) was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his impressionist scenes of the New Hope area ...

that they added to their donation to the Michener.An Enduring Gift: The Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Collection: March 18-July 24, 2006
James A. Michener Art Museum. In addition to works by Redfield, the paintings donated included works by

Daniel Garber Daniel Garber (April 11, 1880 – July 5, 1958) was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his large impressionist scenes of the New Hope area, in which he ...

, Fern I. Coppedge,

William Langson Lathrop William Langson Lathrop (pronounced "LAY-throp") (March 29, 1859 – September 21, 1938) was an American Impressionist landscape painter and founder of the art colony in New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he was an influential founder of Pennsyl ...

John Fulton Folinsbee John Fulton "Jack" Folinsbee (March 14, 1892 – May 10, 1972) was an American landscape, marine and portrait painter, and a member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his impressionist scenes of New Hope ...

, Robert Spencer, and

Charles Rosen Charles Welles Rosen (May 5, 1927December 9, 2012) was an American pianist and writer on music. He is remembered for his career as a concert pianist, for his recordings, and for his many writings, notable among them the book '' The Classical St ...

Conservation, history museums, and historic preservation

In 2007, Lenfest donated hundreds of acres of land in Newlin Township in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

to form the ChesLen Preserve. Located close to

West Branch Brandywine Creek The West Branch Brandywine Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Ge ...

, the mixture of woodlands and agricultural areas eventually reached 1,263 acres; it is crisscrossed with hiking trails and is intended to remain minimally developed in perpetuity.Natural Lands Trust Breaks Ground on Lenfest Center at ChesLen Preserve
Natural Lands (May 23, 2012) Lenfest began to donate to the SS United States Conservancy in 2009, and in July 2010, Lenfest pledged up to $5.8 million to the conservancy. Of the sum, $3 million was to buy the historic ocean liner SS ''United States'' from

Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966, headquartered in Miami, Florida, and incorporated in the Bahamas. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6% of the to ...

(then owned by

Genting Hong Kong Genting Hong Kong Limited ( zh, 雲頂香港有限公司) was a holding company that operated cruise and resort businesses. It was headquartered in (海洋中心), Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (). It was p ...

), and the rest was to continue to berth the historic ship in

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...

and outfit it for its next use. Lenfest was the largest single contributor to the

in Philadelphia. In 2012, Lenfest made a challenge grant toward establishment of the museum. The museum opened to the public in April 2017.Museum of the American Revolution to Receive Approximately $50 Million from the Estate of H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest
(press release), Museum of the American Revolution (April 19, 2022). Lenfest donated some $60 million to the museum during his life.Peter Crimmins
Gerry Lenfest posthumously donates $100 million to two Philly organizations
WHYY (April 19, 2022). The museum was also the beneficiary of a $50 million bequest from his estate, almost doubling the size of its endowment. From 2005 to 2016, Lenfest was chairman of the Museum's board. Lenfest gave $500,000 to the

National Museum of American Jewish History The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (The Weitzman) is a Smithsonian-affiliated museum at 101 South Independence Mall East (S. 5th Street) at Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. It was founded in 1976. History With ...

and $650,000 to the American Friends of the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

in Jerusalem.Philanthropist Is Co-Owner of Papers
''Jewish Exponent'' (April 4, 2012).

''Philadelphia Inquirer'' and journalistic nonprofits

Lenfest believed strongly that journalism, including local journalism, is indispensable to democracy. In April 2012, Lenfest and a consortium of others, including

Lewis Katz Lewis Katz (; January 11, 1942May 31, 2014) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and newspaper publisher, who was a co-owner of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Early life Katz was born to a Jewish family George E. Norcross III George E. Norcross III (born March 16, 1956) is an American businessman, organizer, and political boss. A member of the Democratic Party, Norcross is considered a power broker in southern New Jersey. Norcross is executive chairman of Conner ...

, purchased

Philadelphia Media Network The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC (formerly Philadelphia Media Network (PMN)) is an American media company. It owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and ''Philadelphia Daily News''. The company is owned by The Philadelphia Foundation, a nonprofit or ...

(PMN), the holding company that owned ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', the ''

'', and the newspapers' joint website, Philly.com.Erik Wemple
Gerry Lenfest and the fight for the Philadelphia Inquirer
''Washington Post'' (October 25, 2013). Lenfest said that he acquired the newspapers not as an investment, but to serve to public good. The ownership group soon feuded among themselves, with Lenfest and Katz falling out with Norcross.Erik Wemple
Marimow reinstated as top editor of Philadelphia Inquirer
''Washington Post'' (November 22, 2013). In October 2013, ''Inquirer'' publisher Robert J. Hall fired the newspaper's top editor, Bill Marimow, prompting a public furor. Katz and Lenfest sued in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, seeking Marimow's reinstatement as editor, and arguing that the attempted firing violated the ownership agreement; Norcross countersued. In November 2013, the court ordered Marimow's reinstatement. In April 2014, amid continued disputes among the company's owners, a judge of the

Delaware Court of Chancery The Delaware Court of Chancery is a court of equity in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is one of Delaware's three constitutional courts, along with the Supreme Court and Superior Court. Since 2018, the court consists of seven judges. The cour ...

ordered the dissolution of

Interstate General Media Interstate General Media, LLC, is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania–based company founded in 2012 that operates newspapers and online news sources that it owns. In 2012, the company purchased The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, the company that owns an ...

(the ownership group's

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

LLC A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

, which owned PNM), and the sale of PNM at a private auction among the current owners. At the court-ordered auction the following month, Lenfest and Katz purchased PNM, outbidding fellow minority owners Norcross and Joseph Buckelew.Jeff Gammage
Lenfest donates newspapers, website to new media institute
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' (January 11, 2016). Lenfest and Katz made the purchase for $88 million, resolving the feud. After Katz died in a plane crash shortly after the sale, Lenfest purchased Katz's share from Katz's son. Lenfest thus became chairman and sole owner of the ''Inquirer'', ''Daily News'', and Philly.com. In 2016, Lenfest donated PMN to a newly created nonprofit, the Institute for Journalism in New Media, formed at Lenfest's behest by the nonprofit

The Philadelphia Foundation The Philadelphia Foundation is a community foundation that serves the metropolitan Philadelphia community. The five primary counties served are Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. It is one of the oldest and largest communit ...

, to ensure that the two newspapers would continue to operate to serve Philadelphia. Lenfest also gave $20 million to endow the

nonprofit journalism Nonprofit journalism or philanthrojournalism is the practice of journalism funded largely by donations and foundations. The growth in this sector has been helped by funders seeing a need for public interest journalism like investigative reporting ...

institute, which owns the newspapers and website but has no editorial or managerial control over them. The complex transaction made the ''Inquirer'' the largest U.S. newspaper under nonprofit ownership. The Institute for Journalism in New Media was renamed the Lenfest Institute for Journalism in 2017. In addition to supporting the ''Inquirer'', the institute gave $7.5 million in grants to various press organizations, including WHYY. Upon his death, the Lenfest estate gave an additional $50 million to the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.

Other contributions

The Lenfests donated approximately $6.3 million to the Abington Health Foundation, mostly given toward the building of the five-story Lenfest Pavilion addition to

Abington Memorial Hospital Jefferson Abington Hospital is the flagship hospital of Jefferson Health–Abington (part of Jefferson Health), located in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia. The hospital was formerly kno ...

in Abington Township in

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County, colloquially referred to as Montco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553, making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania after Philadel ...

; the project was completed in 2005. The Lenfests also contributed $5 million to the Foundation Fighting Blindness and $1 million to the

Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia Jefferson Einstein Hospital (formerly Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia) is a non-profit hospital located in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The hospital is a part of Jefferson Health. The medical center offers residency and fellowship tra ...

Awards and honors

Lenfest was elected to membership in the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2004. Gerry and Marguerite were honored with

The Philadelphia Award The Philadelphia Award is an annual prize given to a Philadelphia resident for community service. Winners * 2024 - Estelle B. Richman * 2023 - Sharmain Matlock-Turner * 2021 - Margaux Murphy * 2020 - Ala Stanford * 2020 - Brian L. Roberts * 20 ...

in 2009, and with the

Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy is a private award for philanthropy, bestowed every second year to multiple people by the Carnegie family of institutions. In recent years the medal has been presented in New York. About the Medal The Carnegie ...

in 2017. Columbia University awarded him an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 2019.

awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2002, and awarded him its Russell H. Conwell Award in 2003. Temple's

Fox School of Business The Richard J. Fox School of Business and Management is the business school of Temple University. Located in Philadelphia, the Fox School offers several Master of Business Administration programs (full-time MBA, part-time MBA, international MBA, ...

honored him with its Musser Award for Excellence in Leadership in 2006.Brianna C. Dent
Lenfest to be Honored at Bell Tower
''Temple Update'' (May 3, 2017). He was named to the

Philanthropy Roundtable The Philanthropy Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that advises conservative philanthropists and advocates for donor privacy. History The Roundtable was founded in 1987 as a project of the now-defunct Institute For Educational Affairs. It ...

's ''

Almanac of American Philanthropy The ''Almanac of American Philanthropy'' is a reference book published by the Philanthropy Roundtable donors group in 2016 to capture the history, purpose, effects, and modern direction of private philanthropy in the United States. The author, K ...

'' Hall of Fame.Gerry Lenfest
''

'' Philanthropy Roundtable Hall of Fame.

Personal life and death

Lenfest married his wife Marguerite in 1955. They had three children. They lived in a modest home in the Philadelphia suburb of Huntingdon Valley, which the couple purchased for $35,000 (equal to $ today, despite actual real estate prices being much higher in 2025) in 1966, and also maintained a home in Philadelphia's

Rittenhouse Square Rittenhouse Square is a public park in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that is the center of the eponymous Rittenhouse neighborhood. The square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas ...

. Lenfest was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. Lenfest died on August 5, 2018, aged 88, in Philadelphia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenfest, H. F. 1930 births 2018 deaths 21st-century American philanthropists American lawyers Columbia Law School alumni Davis Polk & Wardwell lawyers Lawyers from Jacksonville, Florida Lawyers from Scarsdale, New York Members of the American Philosophical Society People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art United States Navy reservists Washington and Lee University alumni