Lester Crown

Lester Crown

"Financier father, Henry Crown (d. 1990), created Material Service with 2 brothers in 1919 after being fired from $4-per-week job. Built into multimillion-dollar business; merged with General Dynamics 1959. Today Lester retains big stake of General Dynamics; stock in Hilton Hotels, Alltel. Also big stake in Maytag, appliance outfit purchased by Whirlpool for $1.7 billion in August. Activist spends free time solving global problems: chairs Chicago Foreign Relations Council, sits on board of Aspen Institute. Competitive edge kept sharp with stakes in baseball's New York Yankees, basketball's Chicago Bulls." [1]

On the Board of Overseers of the Aspen Institute / Aspen Strategy Group and is a member of the Aspen Institute / Middle East Strategy Group.

Lester was a partner with Stephen Philip Cohen (Middle East expert) and Robert Lifton in the New Middle East LLC. Lester was also Co-Chair of the Businessman for Middle East Peace and Development created by Steve Cohen.

He has been President of Henry Crown & Co. since 1969. He is a former director of Continental Illinois bank, Trans World Airlines, and Esmark Corporation.

• Chair, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
• Co-Chair, U.S.-Palestinian Partnership
• International Board, U.S./Middle East Project
• Advisory Board, Children's Scholarship Fund
• US Director, Jerusalem Foundation
• Former Commissioner, Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs
• Board of Overseers, Henry Crown Fellowship Program

His wife is Renee Schine Crown and his daughters are Janet Crown and Susan Crown.

External links

• "No. 52 Lester Crown & family", Forbes, Accessed December 2006.