Ted Lerner

Theodore N. Lerner (born October 15, 1925) is an American real estate developer, and former managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals baseball team.[2] He is the founder of the real estate company Lerner Enterprises, the largest private landowner in the Washington metropolitan area, which owns commercial, retail, residential and hotel properties, as well as Chelsea Piers in New York City.[3] In 2015, Forbes magazine named him the richest person in the State of Maryland.[4]

Ted Lerner
Born (1925-10-15) October 15, 1925
Washington, D.C., U.S.
EducationGeorge Washington University (AA, LLB)
OccupationManaging principal owner of the Washington Nationals and Lerner Enterprises
Net worthUS$5.2 billion (February 2016)[1]
Spouse(s)Annette Lerner
Children3, including Mark

Early life and education

Lerner was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in Northwest Washington D.C.,[5][6] the eldest of three children born to Mayer, a 1921 emigrant from Palestine, and Ethel, who emigrated from Lithuania.[5] He attended Raymond Elementary School, McFarland Junior High, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1944.[5] He then served with the U.S. Army as a typist during the latter part of World War II.[5] He then went on to attend George Washington University via the G.I. Bill where he received first an Associate of Arts and then in 1949, he graduated with a L.L.B. from The George Washington University Law School.[5] While in law school, he sold homes on the weekends which piqued his interest in real estate.[5]

Career

In 1952, he borrowed $250 from his wife and founded the real estate company Lerner Enterprises in Rockville, Maryland.[1] It operates primarily throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolis. Lerner Enterprises is the largest private real estate developer in the Washington, D.C. region.

Among the Lerner Enterprises ventures is a partnership in Chelsea Piers, a 30-acre (120,000 m2) sports and entertainment complex on the Hudson River in New York City; the Tysons II commercial development; shopping centers including White Flint and Dulles Town Center; and thousands of homes and apartments, along with numerous office buildings. Lerner also played a role in developing other shopping centers in the Washington area, including Tysons Corner Center and Wheaton Plaza.

The headquarters of Lerner Enterprises in Rockville, MD was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certified multi-tenant commercial building in the D.C. area and has been the recipient of multiple design and environmental awards.[7]

Washington Nationals

The 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals franchise (then known as the Montreal Expos) was formerly owned and operated by Major League Baseball from February 15, 2002, until the official transfer of ownership on July 24, 2006.[8] The Lerner Family is the majority owner of the franchise, controlling over 90% of the shares. Lerner retired as managing principal owner in 2018, ceding the role to his son, Mark D. Lerner.[2]

Monumental Sports & Entertainment

The Lerner Family is also a partner in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 2018 Stanley Cup Champion NHL Washington Capitals, the 2019 WNBA Champion Washington Mystics, NBA Washington Wizards, and Capital One Arena.

Philanthropy and accolades

The Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation provides support to many organizations, including: Food and Friends; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Shady Grove Adventist Hospital; Hadley's Park; the Weizmann Institute of Science; the Scleroderma Foundation of Greater Washington; YouthAids; Junior Achievement of the Greater Washington Area; the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School; and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, among many others. Ted and his wife Annette are founding members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The American Academy of Achievement awarded Ted Lerner the Golden Plate Award of Excellence in 1990.[9]

The campus of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland is named in his and his wife's honor after a multimillion-dollar donation to the school.

The lunch room in the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy was donated by the Lerner Family. The family has also donated the Lerner Family Health and Wellness Center and Theodore Lerner Hall at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Along with the Lerner Center at Hebrew University in Israel.

The family donated the theater at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD.

Notable achievements include:

  • 1990 American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award of Excellence
  • Elected to the Washington Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area in 2003
  • Elected to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
  • Elected to the Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Personal life

On June 17, 1951, he married Annette M. Lerner. They have three children: Mark D. Lerner (married to Judy Lenkin Lerner), Debra Lerner Cohen (married to Edward L. Cohen) and Marla Lerner Tanenbaum (married to Robert K. Tanenbaum).[10] Ted Lerner has nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

His daughter, Marla Lerner Tanenbaum, is chair of The Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation and chair of the Washington Nationals Philanthropies and the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. The family are the sole owners and heirs of Lerner Enterprises. They own the vast majority of the Washington Nationals.

References
  1. "The World's Billionaires - Ted Lerner", Forbes, January 2014
  2. Svrluga, Barry (14 June 2018). "Nationals owner Ted Lerner, 92, to cede control of club to his son, Mark". The Washington Post.
  3. Paul Toscano. "The 10 Richest MLB Owners". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 10, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  4. "The Richest Americans By State: Maryland", Forbes, 2015, retrieved December 4, 2015
  5. The Washingtonian: "Ted Lerner Plays Ball - The dealmaker and family man has realized a dream: He owns Washington’s baseball team. Here’s how he got to where he is—and where the team goes from here" By Harry Jaffe June 1, 2007
  6. Jerusalem Post: "Ted Lerner buys the Nationals: A leading Washington Jewish community member is at the head of a group which has bought the city's baseball team" by Nathan Guttman July 29, 2012
  7. "The Tower Companies". Nbm.org. Archived from the original on 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  8. ""Lerner Group finalizes purchase of Washington Nationals," Washington Nationals press release, Monday, July 24, 2006". Washington.nationals.mlb.com. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  9. "Lerner Enterprises". Lerner.com. Archived from the original on 2014-09-25. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  10. Washington Post: "After 17 Months, Baseball Introduces Nats' Owners" By Thomas Heath and David Nakamura May 4, 2006
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