Name Leslie Gonda Role Entrepreneur | Spouse Susan Gonda Children Louis L. Gonda | |
Organizations founded International Lease Finance Corporation | ||
Leslie Gonda (born 1919) is a Hungarian-born American businessman, entrepreneur, and Holocaust survivor.
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Early life
Gonda was born Lazlo Goldschmied to a Jewish family in Hungary in 1919; he changed his name to escape the Nazis during World War II. He has a degree from the University of Magyarovar.
Career
In 1945, Gonda moved to Venezuela, beginning a local wares business which expanded into real estate and construction. Over time, he grew, beginning local businesses and branching into hotels and the aircraft industry. In 1963, he moved to Los Angeles, United States and started International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) with his son and friend Steven Udvar-Hazy. ILFC went on to become the second largest airliner leasing company in the world and a pioneer of aircraft leasing. In 1983, they took ILFC public and in 1990, they sold it to American International Group for AIG stock and Gonda was given a seat on AIG's Board of Directors. In 1995, Gonda retired from AIG although continued his business activities in commercial real estate and venture capital investments via his Lexington Commercial Holdings. Gonda's wealth plummeted after the collapse of AIG during the 2009 economic crisis.
Philanthropy
Gonda has been a major benefactor of many medical institutions, museums, and charities over the years. He donated the learning center at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. He has also made large donations to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where the Gonda building is named after him. He has made large donations to the UCLA Medical Center where the The Gonda (Goldschmied) Neuroscience and Genetics Research Center as well as the Gonda Diabetes Center is also named after him. Beyond this, he has donated to the City of Hope Cancer Center and is known for his generosity in giving gold coins to his employees' children. In 1999 he gave $60 million to the Smithsonian Institution. He also made large donations to Bar-Ilan University in Israel, for building the Gonda Brain Research Center and a Nanoscience research institute.
Personal life
He was married to Susan Gonda, also a Holocaust survivor, until her death in 2009. They have three children, and he lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Their son Louis Gonda is married to Broadway producer Kelly Gonda, daughter of actress Honey Sanders.