Jeffrey Steiner (April 3, 1937, Vienna – November 1, 2008) was the

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 ...

of the

Fairchild Corporation The Fairchild Corporation is the successor corporation of Fairchild Industries, Inc. In March 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Banner Aerospace was one of the company's major subsidiaries. The last major Fairchild a ...

, the successor corporation of

Fairchild Industries Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 192 ...

, Inc. Steiner was born in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. His family fled to Turkey during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when Hitler's troops invaded Austria. He spoke French, English, Turkish, German, Italian, and Spanish. He became the leading executive of the Fairchild Corporation in 1985. He introduced

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for High-yield debt, high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony ...

Drexel Burnham Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, i ...

to many of the European banks which would become buyers of Drexel's

junk bonds In finance, a high-yield bond (non-investment-grade bond, speculative-grade bond, or junk bond) is a bond that is rated below investment grade by credit rating agencies. These bonds have a higher risk of default or other adverse credit even ...

. In 2006 his compensation from Fairchild was halved, following a shareholder lawsuit alleging overpayment. Steiner was a leader and contributor among the youth of the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called him a "globe-trotting takeover artist". The

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

government honored him for his contributions to the arts, naming him a

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

. He died in November 2008 of cancer, and was survived by five children (Eric, Natalia, Benjamin, Alexandra and Tama Tama, by two different wives) and six grandchildren. They live in Europe (France) and the United States.

References

Austrian chief executives American chief executives Austrian Jews American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Vienna Deaths from cancer 1937 births 2008 deaths Drexel Burnham Lambert {{Austria-bio-stub