Name Jeffrey Legum | ||
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Jeffrey Alfred Legum, a philanthropist, investor and former automobile dealer, was born in Baltimore in 1941. His father, Leslie Legum, was a developer of large industrial parks, and his mother, Naomi Legum, was the daughter of ice cream manufacturer, L. M. Hendler.
Contents
- Early business accomplishments
- Park Circle Motor Company
- Investment management and The Park Circle Company
- Personal life and philanthropy
- Education
- Awards
- Civic activities
- Professional associations
- Hobbiesinterests
- References
Legum has been successful as an auto dealer (he owned the largest car and truck dealership in Maryland), and as an investor. His investment advice helped build the endowments of both the Park School and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Early business accomplishments
Legum started working in high school at age 16 as a door-to-door salesman for a headache remedy. The company offered him a share of the business, but Legum refused the offer, choosing to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in economics. As a senior at Penn, in an advertising course, he created an ad campaign for Avis car rentals. Avis used his work in one of their campaigns.
Park Circle Motor Company
Upon graduation from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business with a B.S. degree in Economics in 1963, Legum joined Park Circle Motor Company, which was founded in 1921 by Legum's grandfather. In 1967, at the age of 25, he became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States.
In 1964, Legum attended the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Las Vegas, where he met British advertising executive David Ogilvy. He and Ogilvy became friendly, and Ogilvy said "You're a clean cut looking young man who should personally go on television and do the advertising for your dealership." Legum followed the advice and was probably the first dealer in Baltimore to do his own advertising. Legum was 22 years old at the time.
In 1970, at the age of 28, Legum was elected to the Board of Directors of United Consolidated Industries (a public company). In 1971, Park Circle Motor Company celebrated 50 years of selling Chevrolets. In 1973, Legum purchased Westminster Chevrolet Cadillac in Westminster, Maryland. It became the largest volume Cadillac dealer in the Baltimore area. In 1977, Park Circle purchased Charlie Irish Chevrolet on Eastern Avenue in the Eastpoint area of Baltimore and closed their original location. The dealership was renamed Legum Chevrolet, with Legum as the CEO. He was elected to membership in the Young Presidents' Organization the same year.
In 1980, Legum won an award from General Motors for “Service Supremacy” at Legum Chevrolet. The dealership was evaluated in 23 categories and was found to be outstanding in each category. Legum’s dealership was the first Maryland dealership to receive this award from General Motors.
In 1981, Legum gained coast-to-coast attention when he was recognized on national television for lending Cadillacs to president-elect Ronald Reagan for his Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. During that same year, Legum purchased H&H Datsun Dealership and relocated the franchise to Legum’s Chevrolet facility, with Chevrolets and Nissans placed on the same showroom floor. Because of this decision, national attention was once again directed at Legum.
In 1984, Legum hired actor John Goodman to do what became an award-winning television commercial for Legum Chevrolet Nissan. The commercial aired nationally on the television show "Before They Were Stars" on CBS.
In 1986, Automotive News did a ranking of “Sales Giants” and Legum Chevrolet Nissan placed third largest in the country.
In 1989, Legum sold his Chevrolet-Nissan dealership to Bob Bell, a Ford dealership owner in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
In 1992, Legum received an award from Bob Starr, General Manager of Chevrolet for the completion of 25 years as a Chevrolet dealer.
In 1997, Legum sold Westminster Motors, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Cadillac to Len Stoler, which ended his family's 76 years in the automobile business.
Investment management and The Park Circle Company
Legum owns and is CEO of The Park Circle Company, DBA Park Circle Investments, a private investment company with interest in Baltimore-related corporations. In 1962, Park Circle Motor Company sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Truck Rental Company of Baltimore, to Avis in return for cash and 10% interest in Avis. In 1966, Park Circle and Lazard Freres sold Avis to ITT Corporation for stock in ITT. This cash and stock became the basis for Park Circle's original stock portfolio, which was managed by Legum. Legum manages The Park Circle Company hedge fund.
From 1972 through 1978, Legum studied investing under the tutelage of F. Palmer Weber, a former University of Virginia professor and professional investor.
In 1983, Legum started to accumulate stock in Legg Mason which was headed by his friend, Raymond Mason. By 1985, Legum then owned over 5% of the Legg Mason Company and had to report it to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 2009, Legum added an additional company to his portfolio by buying shares in Adams Express Company, a Baltimore company listed on the NYSE. According to the company, Legum is the second largest shareholder.
In 2012, Legum completed the purchase of 5.3% of Cherokee Group, Inc., a national clothing company, whose products are available in Target and TJ Maxx.
In 2015, Legum became the owner of 5.1% of RF Industries, a publicly owned company.
Personal life and philanthropy
In 1968, Legum married the former Harriet Cohn.
In 1989, Legum was active in Park Schools’ 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign.
In 1995, Legum was asked by The Park School Board to MC the retirement ceremony for their headmaster, Parvin Sharpless. This event was televised on the local CBS News and WJZ-TV, and was covered by The Baltimore Sun.
In 1997, Legum and his wife co-hosted a Grand Affair at the Baltimore Museum of Art, celebrating the display of art from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The event was attended by members of the British Royal Family.
In 2001, Legum and his wife co-chaired a gala celebrating the reinstallation of the Cone Collection at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
In 2001, Jeffrey and Harriet Legum donated $1.5 million to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to create a professorship in acute neurological medicine.
In 2003, Legum and his wife donated $3 million to Johns Hopkins to help fund construction of a building which would house both clinical and basic research.
In 2013, Jeffrey and Harriet Legum created a $1 million endowment to help fund marketing costs for the Baltimore Museum of Art.
In 2014, the Legums gave $2.5 million to Johns Hopkins, in memory of their friend, Jack Griffin, former head of Hopkins Neurology. Through The Legum Foundation, Legum and his wife philanthropically support a wide array of community efforts, such as Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University, where they endowed The Jeffrey and Harriet Legum Professorship in Acute Neurological Medicine and The John W. Griffin, MD Professorship in Neurology. They have also supported Kennedy Krieger; American Cancer Society; the Baltimore Museum of Art's Lucas Collection (2000), the Andy Warhol Exhibit "Warhol: The Lost Decade" (2010–11), and the 100th anniversary advertising and public relations campaign; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Chesapeake Bay Foundation; The Park School; University of Pennsylvania; House of Ruth; Baltimore Hebrew Congregation; The Kennedy Center; and Associated Jewish Charities.
The Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Legum Docent Room at the Baltimore Museum of Art was opened in 2015.
In 2016, Jeffrey Legum was Baltimore City's largest donor to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, donating a total of $5,400 to his campaign
On December 20, 2016, Jeffrey Legum was honored by Baltimore County for his many contributions to the community, and that date was proclaimed Jeffrey Alfred Legum Day.