Jon Ledecky | |
|---|---|
 Ledecky in 2012 | |
| Born | Jonathan Joseph Ledecky February 9, 1958 |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Relatives | Katie Ledecky (niece) |
Jonathan Joseph Ledecky (born February 9, 1958) [1] is an American businessman and a co-owner of the NHL team New York Islanders and their AHL affiliate Bridgeport Islanders. [2]
His niece is multiple Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky. [3]
Ledecky was born in 1958 in New York City, the son of a Czechoslovakian immigrant who came to America eleven years prior to study English at Rutgers University. Growing up in Queens and Brooklyn, he became a New York Yankees fan. After moving in 1972 to Greenwich, Connecticut, Ledecky attended Greenwich High School, with extracurricular work on his school paper that would have earned Ledecky a journalism scholarship at Vanderbilt University if his father had not insisted on his son attending an Ivy League school. Ledecky thus pursued business administration at Harvard University, continuing his reporter work at The Harvard Crimson and college radio station WHRB. Ledecky earned his bachelor's degree in 1979 and completed a Master of Business Administration in 1983, which was followed by a series of venture capital-type jobs. After being dismissed from Steelcase in 1994, Ledecky decided to open his own company in the office supplies business. Backed by a number of Harvard alumni, U.S. Office Products was founded in 1994, and had its initial public offering one year later. By the time Ledecky left U.S. Office Products in 1998, his fortune was estimated at $200 million. [4]
In 1998, Ledecky nearly purchased a share of the Cincinnati Reds before getting his bid matched by Carl Lindner, and also bid on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eventually he partnered with America Online executive Ted Leonsis to found Lincoln Holdings, who purchased the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals and a minor share of the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards. [5] Ledecky still got interested in higher shares of sports franchises, partnering with Steve Stotland in 2000 to bid on the Montreal Canadiens (he lost out to Colorado businessman George Gillett Jr.). [6] In 2001, Ledecky sold his 24-percent stake in Lincoln Holdings, originally worth $58 million, back to Leonsis for more than $70 million. [5] Following an unsuccessful bid at the Oakland Athletics in 2002, [7] Ledecky headed one of the groups intent on purchasing the Washington Nationals from Major League Baseball, [5] eventually losing to Ted Lerner. [8]
In October 2014, Ledecky and former Harvard roommate Scott D. Malkin entered a deal to purchase the New York Islanders from Charles Wang. They became minority owners during a two-year transition period before getting majority shares by 2016. [9]
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, and play their home games at UBS Arena. The Islanders are one of three NHL franchises in the New York metropolitan area, along with the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, and their fanbase resides primarily on Long Island.
Charles B. Wang was a Chinese-American billionaire, businessman, and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc.. He was a minority owner of the NHL's New York Islanders ice hockey team and their AHL affiliate.
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately 7 miles (11 km) east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of Queens, and is also next to the Meadowbrook Parkway.
Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on December 2, 1997 as the MCI Center but renamed to Verizon Center in 2006 when MCI was acquired by Verizon Communications and changed again to its current name in 2017.
EagleBank Arena is a 10,000-seat arena in the eastern United States, on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb southwest of Washington, D.C.
Laurene Powell Jobs is an American billionaire businesswoman and executive. She is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute. She is the widow of Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., and she manages the Steve Jobs Trust. She is a major donor to Democratic Party politicians.
Rocco Benito Commisso is an Italian-born American billionaire businessman, and the founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mediacom, the fifth largest cable television company in the US. As of 2011, the company is privately owned by Commisso. He previously worked for companies including Cablevision, the Royal Bank of Canada, and Chase Manhattan Bank. Since 2017, Commisso has been the owner and chairman of the New York Cosmos, and since June 2019, the owner of the Italian football club ACF Fiorentina.
Theodore John Leonsis is an American businessman and investor. He is a former senior executive with America Online (AOL), and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, and Washington Mystics. He is also a founding member and investor in the Revolution Growth Fund, which includes investments in FedBid, Resonate Insights, Optoro and CustomInk. He founded and chaired SnagFilms, which produced the documentary film Nanking. The film was honored with the 2009 News & Documentary Emmy Award. He is also an author, having published the book The Business of Happiness in 2010.
Cameron Howard Winklevoss is an American cryptocurrency investor and Olympic rower, who founded Winklevoss Capital Management and Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. He competed in the men's pair rowing event at the 2008 Summer Olympics with his identical twin brother and rowing partner, Tyler Winklevoss. Winklevoss and his brother are known for co-founding HarvardConnection along with Harvard classmate Divya Narendra. In 2004, the Winklevoss brothers sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their ConnectU idea to create the social networking site Facebook. In addition to ConnectU, Winklevoss also co-founded the social media website Guest of a Guest with Rachelle Hruska.
FedBid, Inc. is now known as Unison Marketplace Inc. Unison Marketplace is a privately held company based in Vienna, Virginia, that operates a full-service online marketplace designed to optimize how federal, state and local governments, and educational institutions purchase simple goods and services such as IT products, office supplies and lab equipment, through a reverse auction-based platform.
LivingSocial is an online marketplace that allows its registered users to buy and share things to do in their city. Formerly headquartered in Washington, D.C., LivingSocial had roughly 70 million members around the world in 2013. The company shrank from a peak of 4,500 employees in 2011 to about 200 in 2016. LivingSocial was purchased by Groupon in 2016.
Custom Ink is an American online retail company headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia that makes custom clothing and other items such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, bags, and tech accessories.
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Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. She has won a world record 16 individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at the Olympics and 26 overall medals at the World Aquatics Championships are records in women's swimming. Ledecky is the world record holder in the women's 800- and 1500-meter freestyle as well as the former world record holder in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She also holds the fastest-ever times in the women's 500-, 1000-, and 1650-yard freestyle events. She is widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
Joshua Jordan Harris is an American investor, sports team owner, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management and the principal owner and managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL's New Jersey Devils, and the NFL's Washington Commanders. Harris is also a general partner of the English football club Crystal Palace and a minority owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. He holds a net worth of over $7 billion.
Peter L. Malkin is an American real estate investor and chairman emeritus of Empire State Realty Trust and Malkin Holdings.
Scott David Malkin is the founder of Value Retail Plc and co-owner of the New York Islanders professional hockey team.
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