Leone J. Peters (September 16, 1911 – June 4, 1988) was an American businessman and an owner-breeder of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorses Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

Real Estate

Peters, a prominent

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

real estate broker Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

and consultant, was the archetype of the modern commercial real estate broker. He joined the property management company

Cushman & Wakefield Cushman & Wakefield Inc. is an American global Commercial property, commercial real estate services firm. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois. Cushman & Wakefield is among the world's largest commercial real est ...

in 1929 as a bookkeeper. With the exception of World War II military service, where he enlisted as a buck private and achieved the rank of captain, he spent his entire business career at the firm, remaining an active broker until his death. He rose to the position of president and chief executive officer of Cushman & Wakefield in 1960, became chairman of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

and its

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 ...

in 1970, and honorary chairman in 1976, closing many of the industry's most notable transactions along the way. He oversaw an expansion of the business into a nationwide force and was credited with transforming Cushman & Wakefield from a family-owned building management concern into a leading real estate services organization. As agent or consultant, Peters represented almost every major investment builder, as well as many large institutional owners in the industrial, banking and insurance fields around the U.S. and abroad. He was also instrumental in the development of several of America's most prominent office towers, including the Bank of America Building in San Francisco, Arco Towers in Los Angeles, and

4 New York Plaza 25 Water Street, also known as 4 New York Plaza, is a building at Water Street and Broad Street the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, U.S. It directly adjoins both 125 Broad Street to the south, which is connected, and the V ...

, among many others.

Thoroughbred horse racing

An avid horseman, Leone J. Peters partnered with

Arthur B. Hancock III Arthur Boyd Hancock III (born February 22, 1943, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American owner of Thoroughbred racehorses, the owner of Stone Farm, a 2,000 acre (8 km2) horse breeding operation in Paris, Kentucky, and a composer of Bluegra ...

, of the renowned Kentucky breeding operation,

Claiborne Farm Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred horse breeding operation near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910 by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Stud in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since. ...

. At Hancock's Stone Farm in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and the county seat. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, it ha ...

they bred and raced

Gato Del Sol Gato Del Sol (February 23, 1979 – August 7, 2007) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his win in the 1982 Kentucky Derby. Background Gato Del Sol was a gray horse foaled at Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He was sired by the ...

, winner of the 1982

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

. Among other horses the two bred were multiple

stakes race The following is a glossary of North American horse racing. Additional glossaries at: *Glossary of Australian and New Zealand punting *Glossary of equestrian terms This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical term ...

winner Tap Shoes and

Risen Star Risen Star (March 25, 1985 – March 13, 1998) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1988. Background The dark bay colt was the son of the great Triple Crown winner Secretariat and out of the ...

, winner of the 1988

Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...

and

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

who was voted the

Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse The American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when ''Turf & Sports Di ...

Other activities

Peters was active in many civic organizations, serving as a patron of the

New York Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred to colloquially as the Met, the company ...

, a director of Tiro A Segno and the Columbus Citizens Committee, and a member of the board of the Real Estate Council for Lincoln Center. He supported many charitable organizations and institutions, including the Chemotherapy Foundation of New York, the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

, the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,700 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

, and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. Leone J. Peters died at the Hospital of the

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 ...

in 1988 following open-heart surgery. He was married to the former Betty Martone (1914–1998) with whom he had a son, Paul Leone Peters (1946-), also in the real estate business, and a daughter who also became involved Thoroughbred racing, Gail Peters Beitz. He is survived as well by four grandsons: Adam Paul Peters, Jaime Martone Peters, Jonathan Bradley Beitz, and Drew Travers Beitz.

References

Leone J. Peters obituary at The New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Leone J. 1911 births 1988 deaths American racehorse owners and breeders Businesspeople from Manhattan 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Episcopalians