Leonard Tow

Last updated
Leonard Tow
Born1928 (age 94–95)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Brooklyn College (BA)
Columbia University (PhD)
Occupation(s)businessman, philanthropist
Known forCEO and Chairman of Citizens Communications
Spouse
Claire Schneider
​
​
(m. 1952;died 2014)​
Children3
Awards Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy (2019)

Leonard Tow (born 1928) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman and CEO of Citizens Communications (now Frontier Communications) and chairman of Electric Lightwave. [1] [2] He also co-founded Century Communications, which was sold to Adelphia Communications Corporation for $5.2 billion in 1999 and became part of Cablevision. [3]

Contents

Biography

Tow was born in 1928. [4] He received his B.A. from Brooklyn College and Ph.D. from Columbia University in economic geography. [1] [5] He began his career as an instructor at Columbia Business School before leaving for the private sector. Tow worked for Touche Ross & Company and then became an assistant to Irving B. Kahn and eventually becoming SVP of TelePrompTer Corporation. He left TelePrompTer to found his own telecommunications company, Century Communications, which grew to become the nation’s fifth-largest cable television company at the time of its sale in 1999. [6] He was also elected as Chairman and CEO of Citizens Communications, serving in those positions from 1989 to 2004 and was a director of Adelphia Communications Corporation. [7] [8]

Having retired from the cable industry, Tow began to focus on philanthropic activities through the Tow Foundation, which was founded in 1988. [6] [9] The foundation focuses on improving medical care and research, helping disadvantaged youths and reforming the juvenile justice system, as well as funding cultural institutions and the performing arts programs at higher education institutions in the tri-state New York Metropolitan area. [9]

Tow has supported higher education institutions such as Bard College, Barnard College, Brooklyn College, Columbia University, City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, University at Buffalo, University of New Haven, and Wesleyan University, as well as medical institutions such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, and the New York Genome Center. [10]

In 2012, Tow and his wife signed The Giving Pledge, a public commitment to give away 50% of their wealth or more during their lifetimes or upon their death. [11] Tow was a longtime member of the Forbes 400. [12] [13]

Tow is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2019. [6]

Personal life

In 1952, Tow married Claire Schneider (1929-2014), [14] whom he met in college, and was a co-founder of Century Communications. [15] She died in 2014 from Lou Gehrig's disease. [16] The couple have three children and are residents of New Canaan, Connecticut. His son, Andrew Tow, is the owner of The Withers, a winery based in Sonoma County, California. [17] His daughter, Emily Tow Jackson, is the President of the Tow Foundation and has served as a trustee of Barnard College, from which she graduated in 1988. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azim Premji</span> Indian business tycoon, investor (born 1945)

Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as the Czar of the Indian IT Industry. He was responsible for guiding Wipro through four decades of diversification and growth, to finally emerge as one of the global leaders in the software industry. In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. For years, he has been regularly listed one among The 500 Most Influential Muslims. He also serves as the Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Permji is awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, by the Government of India.

Adelphia Communications Corporation was an American cable television company with headquarters in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1952 by brothers Gus and John Rigas after the pair purchased a cable television franchise for US$300. Combining various cable properties, the company became one of the most successful in the United States and reached over two million subscribers in 1998. In addition to cable television, Adelphia later started providing high-speed internet, phone services and voice messaging for businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Golisano</span> American businessman

Blase Thomas Golisano is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Newmark</span> American entrepreneur and Craigslist founder

Craig Alexander Newmark is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Prior to founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for companies such as IBM, Bank of America, and Charles Schwab. Newmark served as chief executive officer of Craigslist from its founding until 2000. He founded Craig Newmark Philanthropies in 2015.

Christy Ruth Walton is the widow of John T. Walton, one of the sons of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. Denny Sanford</span> American businessman

Thomas Denny Sanford is a South Dakota businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of First Premier Bank and the chairman and chief executive officer of its holding company, United National.

Bernard Osher is an American businessman, best known for his work as a philanthropist.

Phillip Terrence "Terry" Ragon is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded InterSystems and is the current CEO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Giving Pledge</span> Charitable organization

The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. As of June 2022, the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, and as of 2016, their pledges are estimated to total US$600 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayes Barnard</span> American entrepreneur and philanthropist

Hayes Barnard is an American entrepreneur. He is currently the founder, chairman, and CEO of GoodLeap, a technology-based finance company. Barnard is also the founder, chairman, and CEO of GivePower, a nonprofit that facilitates solar powered projects to provide clean water and energy systems to underserved communities.

Good Ventures is a private foundation and philanthropic organization in San Francisco, and the fifth largest foundation in Silicon Valley. It was co-founded by Cari Tuna, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and her husband Dustin Moskovitz, one of the co-founders of Facebook. Good Ventures adheres to principles of Effective Altruism and aims to spend most or all of its money before Moskovitz and Tuna die. Good Ventures does not have any full-time staff, and instead distributes grants according to recommendations from Open Philanthropy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan M. Nelson</span> American businessman and investor (born 1956)

Jonathan Milton Nelson is an American businessman and investor. He is the founder of Providence Equity Partners, a global private equity firm based in Providence, Rhode Island, which manages funds with over US$45 billion in commitments. As of January 2022, Nelson's net worth as estimated by Forbes is 2.2 billion dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloomberg Philanthropies</span>

Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education. According to the Foundation Center, Bloomberg Philanthropies was the 10th largest foundation in the United States in 2015, the last year for which data was available. Bloomberg has pledged to donate the majority of his wealth, currently estimated at more than $54 billion. Patti Harris is the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan D. Gray</span> American businessman

Jonathan D. Gray is an American billionaire businessman and the president and chief operating officer of Blackstone Group, a New York-based asset management firm. He is also chairman of Hilton Worldwide.

The Kinder Foundation is a Houston-based 501c3 nonprofit organization. It was established in 1997 by Richard Kinder and Nancy Kinder. Since its establishment, the Kinder Foundation has committed more than $410 million in grants and transformation gifts to Houston projects.

The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy is a private award for philanthropy, bestowed every second year to multiple people by the Carnegie family of institutions. In recent years the medal has been presented in New York.

Colin Huang or Huang Zheng is a Chinese billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and former CEO of the e-commerce company Pinduoduo, which is now the largest agriculture platform in China. Huang is also the owner of at least three other limited liability Cayman companies, including Pinduoduo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paige West</span> American professor

Paige West is Claire Tow Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College. She also serves on the faculty of Columbia University. She earned a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021.

Virginia "Jinny" Wright, also known as Virginia Bloedel Wright, was an American art collector and philanthropist. She was considered one of the top art collectors in America for having created the largest collection of modern and contemporary art of the Pacific Northwest with her husband Bagley Wright and was credited for having played a pivotal role in the cultural development of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

References

  1. 1 2 "Leonard Tow 2000 Oral and Video History". 2021-07-23. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  2. ↑ Mike Farrell (2004-07-19). "Leonard Tow Steps Down at Citizens". Multichannel News. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  3. ↑ Bernstein, Peter W.; Swan, Annalyn (2008). All the Money in the World: How the Forbes 400 Make--and Spend--their Fortunes. Vintage Books. ISBN   978-0-307-27876-0.
  4. ↑ Tow, Leonard (April 30, 1960). The manufacturing economy of Southern Rhodesia: problems and prospects. National Academy of Sciences National Research Council. OCLC   187849 – via Open WorldCat.
  5. ↑ "Largest gifts in Barnard history to support new teaching and learning center". Barnard College. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  6. 1 2 3 "Tow, Leonard". Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  7. ↑ "Adelphia's Leonard Tow Resigns". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  8. ↑ Cowan, Alison Leigh (1993-07-11). "Boards Protect Shareholders, Right?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  9. 1 2 "Claire and Leonard Tow - The Giving Pledge". Giving Pledge. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  10. ↑ "» Grant Tags » Higher Education" . Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  11. ↑ Carlyle, Erin. "Meet the Eight Forbes 400 Billionaires Who Just Signed the Giving Pledge". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  12. ↑ "Forbes 400 List of Wealthiest Americans". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  13. ↑ "Kowtowed?". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  14. ↑ "» Claire Tow, Co-Founder and Vice President, Dies At 83".
  15. ↑ "Brooklyn College Remembers Claire Tow '52". www.brooklyn.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  16. ↑ Advertiser, New Canaan (2014-07-08). "Obituary: Claire Tow, 83, cable co. founder, philanthropist". New Canaan Advertiser. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  17. ↑ Teague, Lettie (2015-02-19). "The Withers Winery Sprang From a Personal Venture by Executive Andrew Tow". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  18. ↑ "Scholarship Gala honoree and Trustee Emily Tow Jackson '88 on tackling social problems through philanthropy". Barnard College. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  19. ↑ West, Melanie Grayce (2013-04-18). "Family Foundation Is Honored at Barnard". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2022-05-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.