Ethnicity Jewish Role Investor Name Warren Hellman | Employer Hellman & Friedman Citizenship United States Children Frances Hellman | |
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Full Name Frederick Warren Hellman Born July 25, 1934 ( 1934-07-25 ) New York City Occupation Private equity, Investment banking (prior) Known for Founder of Hellman & Friedman, Hellman, Ferri Investment Associates (today Matrix Partners) Parents Marco Hellman, Ruth Koshland People also search for Frances Hellman, Marco Hellman, Donald Tarinelli, Robert C. Dynes | ||
Mitch kapor on the passing of warren hellman
F. Warren Hellman (July 25, 1934 – December 18, 2011) was an American private equity investor and co-founder of Hellman & Friedman, a multibillion-dollar private equity firm. Hellman also co-founded Hellman, Ferri Investment Associates, today known as Matrix Partners. He started and funded the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Hellman died on December 18, 2011 of complications from his treatment for leukemia.
Contents
- Mitch kapor on the passing of warren hellman
- Warren Hellman on Business and Philanthropy
- Early life and education
- Career
- Family history
- Other affiliations
- References
Warren Hellman on Business and Philanthropy
Early life and education
Hellman was born to a Jewish family in New York and spent his early childhood in Manhattan, the son of Ruth (née Koshland) and Marco "Mick" Hellman. His great-grandfather was Isaias W. Hellman. During World War II, his family moved to Vacaville, California where his father served as a Major in the Army and his mother worked as a Women Airforce Service Pilot, flying military planes from aircraft factories to bases. After the war, they moved to San Francisco where he graduated from Lowell High School. In 1955, he graduated from University of California, Berkeley and in 1959, he graduated with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Career
After school, he worked in investment banking at Lehman Brothers becoming a partner at age 26, the youngest in the firm's history. In 1973, he was named president and head of investment banking. and also head of the Investment Banking Division and Chairman of Lehman Corporation. In 1977, he moved to Boston and co-founded with Paul J. Ferri a venture capital firm, Hellman, Ferri Investment Associates (later renamed Matrix Partners), an early-stage investor in SanDisk and Apple. In 1984, he moved back to San Francisco and co-founded the buyout firm, Hellman & Friedman with Tully Friedman where he served as chairman of the firm as well as a member of the Firm's Investment and Compensation Committees.
Hellman & Friedman's strategy was to buy companies heavy on intellectual acumen (typically financial services or software companies) and light on physical assets (such as manufacturers) with strong cash flows that need operational improvements. In 1995, the firm purchased Levi Strauss & Co. from 250 family shareholders and consolidated it among four men including Hellman and then-CEO Robert D. Haas. The company reduced its debt and improved its earnings.
Family history
Though his fortune was largely self-made, Hellman was the great-grandson of Isaias W. Hellman, a prominent early California banker (President of Wells Fargo Bank), philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California. Isaias Hellman's sister-in-law was married to Mayer Lehman, one of the founders of Lehman Brothers. Warren Hellman's mother, the former Ruth Koshland, was the granddaughter of Jesse Koshland, and great grand-daughter of Simon Koshland, pioneer wool merchants in San Francisco (a nephew of Jesse Koshland, Daniel E. Koshland, Sr., served as the CEO of Levi Strauss & Co).
The Hellman family is not connected to the Hellmann’s mayonnaise company.
Hellman was married to Patricia Christina "Chris" Sander; they had four children: Marco "Mick" Hellman; Frances Hellman; Judith Hellman; and Patricia Hellman Gibbs. His daughter, Frances Hellman, is the Dean of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at UC Berkeley. His funeral was held at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.
Other affiliations
Hellman was the primary sponsor and provided funding for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 2011, Speedway Meadow was renamed Hellman Hollow to honor his history of philanthropy and civic involvement in San Francisco.
Hellman was a donor and supporter of Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), a nonprofit organization that helps people transform their lives through work.
Hellman was a Director of D.N.& E. Walter & Co. and Sugar Bowl Corporation. He was also a member of the advisory board of the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. In 2005, Hellman was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Hellman was the Chairman of the Board of The Bay Citizen, a non-profit news organization focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Citizen was founded with a $5 million contribution from the Hellman Family Foundation.
Hellman was the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Mills College from 1982-1992, and as a result of protests reversed the college's decision to go co-ed in 1990.
He formerly served as a Director of numerous portfolio companies, including Eller Media Company, Nasdaq Stock Market and Young & Rubicam.
Hellman served in the U.S. Army from 1955 through 1957.
Warren Hellman was honored by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in December 2011. Speedway Meadow, the location of his festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, has been officially renamed "Hellman Hollow".