Harry Weinberg (1908–1990) was an American billionaire businessman who founded '' The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc.'', a private charitable foundation, with over $2 billion in assets in 2018 and headquartered in

Owings Mills Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The foundation is named for Weinberg and his wife of 58 years, Jeanette Gutman Weinberg (1909–1989).

Biography

Weinberg was born in 1908 in Galicia, then part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, to a poor Jewish family. His father Joseph Weinberg came to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

in the US, and sent for his family in 1912. One of his earliest ventures was selling souvenirs for celebrations at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He dropped out of school at age 12 and worked in his father's car repair shop. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of the 1930s, he and his brother William would buy properties at depressed prices, fix them up, and resell them for a profit. Throughout his career he was known for being a keen judge of undervalued assets, and having the patience to wait for their values to increase. In

, he repeated this with the

Fifth Avenue Coach Company The Fifth Avenue Coach Company was a bus operator in Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens, and Westchester County, New York, providing public transit between 1896 and 1954 after which services were taken over by the New York City Omnibus Corporation. I ...

, in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He started buying stock in the Honolulu Rapid Transit Company in 1955, eventually gained control, slashed costs, and then sold it at a profit to the

City & County of Honolulu Honolulu County (), officially known as the City and County of Honolulu (formerly ''Oahu County''), is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Hawaii, one of five counties in the state. The city-county includes both Urban Honolulu (t ...

(it is now known as TheBus) in 1971. In 1968 he moved to Hawaii where he died November 4, 1990. His investments included

Amfac, Inc. Amfac, Inc., formerly known as American Factors and originally H. Hackfeld & Co., was a land development company in Hawaii. Founded in 1898 as a retail and sugar business, it was considered one of the so-called Big Five (Hawaii), Big Five compan ...

Maui Land & Pineapple Company Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. (ML&P, ) is a land holding and operating company founded in 1909 and based in Kapalua, Hawaii, United States. It owns approximately on the island of Maui. It develops, sells, and manages residential, resort, ...

Alexander & Baldwin Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. is an American company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company currently operates businesses in real estate, land operations, and materials and construction. It was also the last ...

, and other real estate ventures. In 1932 he married Jeanette Gutman (1910–1989). A supporter of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, in 1984 he had donated funds to air condition all of Israel's nursing homes. His wife having predeceased him, on his death in 1990, he was survived by son Morton Weinberg, and left $3 million to his grandchildren. His will left the remainder, almost

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1 billion of property, to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation they had founded in 1959.

Foundation

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation was originally established in 1959. Upon his death in 1990 he left $3 million to his grandchildren. His will left almost

1 billion of property to the foundation. Weinberg's will specified that 25 percent of annual distributions will go to Jewish charities and further specifies that the proceeds shall be used for the benefit of the poor, and bans gifts to music or arts institutions. The assets continued to grow in value, while large grants enabled entire buildings to be built, such as the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Memorial Library at the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took ...

. Throughout Baltimore and the Hawaiian Islands, many major civic and private buildings and complexes were named after Harry and Jeanette Weinberg. Before his death in 1990, he had decreed that any building for which his charitable foundation gave more than $250,000 would have the couple's name on it somewhere...(Weinberg's) charter allows the foundation to contribute no more than 30 percent of a project's cost. By Kate Shatzkin One of the largest projects named in their honor was the Filipino Community Center in

Waipahu, Hawaii Waipahu () is a former sugarcane Sugar plantations in Hawaii, plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu, Oahu in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawai ...

, dedicated by Philippines President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

and representatives of

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

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 ...

in 2002. The Filipino Community Center is one of the largest ethnic and cultural centers in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Other projects include the Ko Olina Resort, which asked for $75 million in tax credits. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation is administered by a board of trustees that at times includes members of the Weinberg family. Members are usually professionals residing in Honolulu and Baltimore.

References

External links

Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinberg, Harry 20th-century American Jews American anti-poverty advocates American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American Zionists Organizations established in 1959 American philanthropists American businesspeople in real estate Deaths from multiple myeloma 1908 births 1990 deaths Philanthropists from Baltimore Businesspeople from Baltimore People from Honolulu People from Sambir Real estate and property developers from Hawaii Real estate and property developers from Maryland