Leonard Abess

Last updated
Leonard Abess
Born
Leonard L. Abess

1948 (age 75–76)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBanker

Leonard L. Abess (born 1948) is an American banker, businessman, and former owner of the City National Bank of Florida, the second-largest financial institution in Florida with over $22 billion in assets as of 2018. [1] CNBFL has 32 branches, from Miami-Dade County to the greater Orlando area, and nearly 1,000 employees. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Abess' father, Leonard, was the son of Romanian Jewish parents who moved from Providence, Rhode Island, to Miami to work as an independent auditor at the First National Bank of Florida. [3] His mother, Bertha (née Ungar), was the daughter of Arthur Ungar, a Miami automobile dealer and founder of the Temple Israel of Greater Miami. [4]

In 1946, Abess's father co-founded (with Baron de Hirsch Meyer) the City National Bank of Florida, one of the first postwar banks in the region. [3] In 1949, after local hospitals refused to hire Jewish doctors, Leonard Sr. and other Jewish residents of South Florida pooled their resources and founded the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. [3] Abess Jr. graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. [5] He started his career at the bank in its print shop.

Career

Abess became the majority owner and chairman of the City National Bank in 1984. The bank had $400 million in assets when he purchased it, which had grown to $2.75 billion at the time of its sale in 2008. [6]

In November 2008, Abess sold his 83 percent share of the bank to the Caja Madrid banking group for $927 million and shared $60 million of the proceeds with 399 current staff members and 72 former employees. [7] On February 24, 2009, President Barack Obama praised Abess in his State of the Union Address and invited Abess and another bank employee to be his guests at the speech. [8] [9] Abess was later recognized as one of Time magazine's "Time 100" in 2009. [10]

Leonard Abess is a former director of the Miami Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Philanthropy

Abess serves as a University of Miami trustee and, in 2006, donated $5 million to establish the University of Miami's Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. [11]

Abess and his wife also founded a floating research station in the Brazilian Amazon and the Abess Center for Environmental Studies at Miami Country Day School. [12]

In 2007, the Miami Chamber of Commerce honored Abess and his wife Jayne with their "Sand in My Shoes Award." In 2006, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce gave him its "Doc Baker Lifetime Achievement Award." [13]

From 2011 until 2014, Abess served as chairman of the University of Miami's board of trustees. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Miami</span> Private university in Coral Gables, Florida

The University of Miami is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. As of 2023, the university enrolled 19,593 students in two colleges and eight schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, including the Miller School of Medicine in Miami's Health District, the law school on the main campus, the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science on Virginia Key, and additional research facilities in southern Miami-Dade County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh McColl</span> American banker, former CEO of Bank of America

Hugh L. McColl Jr. is a former business executive who was the CEO of NationsBank and the former Chairman and the first CEO of Bank of America. Active in banking since around 1960, McColl was a driving force behind consolidating a series of progressively larger, mostly Southern banks, thrifts and financial institutions into a super-regional banking force, "the first ocean-to-ocean bank in the nation's history".

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen M. Ross</span> American businessman (born 1940)

Stephen Michael Ross is an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and sports team owner. Ross is the chairman of Related Companies, a global real estate development firm he founded in 1972. Related is best known for developing the Deutsche Bank Center, as well as the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project. Ross has a net worth of $10.1 billion in 2020, ranking him 185 on Forbes Billionaires List in 2020. He is still featured on the list as of 2023. Ross is also the principal owner of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexi Giannoulias</span> American lawyer (born 1976)

Alexander Giannoulias is an American financier and politician who is the Secretary of State of Illinois. He previously served as the 72nd Illinois Treasurer from 2007 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Downtown Miami</span> Neighborhood in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It is divided by the Miami River and is bordered by Midtown Miami's Edgewater, and Wynwood sections to its north, Biscayne Bay to its east, the Health District and Overtown to its west, and Coconut Grove to its south.

Edward "Ed" Liddy is an American businessman who was chairman of the Allstate Corporation from 1999 to 2008.

Shepard Broad was a Belarusian-American banker, lawyer, and philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Florida</span>

The Florida education system consists of public and private schools in Florida, including the State University System of Florida (SUSF), the Florida College System (FCS), the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) and other private institutions, and also secondary and primary schools as well as virtual schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John M. Reich</span> American banker

John M. Reich was a Director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). He was sworn in on January 15, 2001, following an appointment by President of the United States Bill Clinton and served on the FDIC Board for eight years. Reich served as Vice Chairman of the Board of the FDIC from November 2002 until he was nominated on June 7, 2005 by President George W. Bush to be Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination on July 29, 2005. He also served as Acting Chairman of the FDIC from July to August 2001. As Deputy Chairman, 2001–2005, Reich served as the Chair of FDIC's Audit Committee during a time when the General Accounting Office issued reportable conditions regarding information security at the Corporation.

M. Anthony Burns is an American businessman and chairman emeritus of the board of directors of Ryder, a United States-based provider of transportation and supply chain management products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish American Heritage Month</span> Annual celebration of Jewish American achievements in May

Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is an annual recognition and celebration of American Jews' achievements and contributions to the United States of America during the month of May.

The history of Jews in South Florida dates back to the 19th century. Many South Florida Jews are Ashkenazi, and Latin American. Many are also French, Moroccan, Syrian, Bukharan, and Israeli. There is a significant Sephardic and Mizrachi population as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami-Dade County, Florida</span> County in Florida, United States

Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in the United States. It is Florida's third largest county in terms of land area with 1,946 square miles (5,040 km2). The county seat is Miami, the core of the nation's ninth-largest and world's 65th-largest metropolitan area with a 2020 population of 6.138 million people, exceeding the population of 31 of the nation's 50 states as of 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles E. Cobb</span> American businessman

Charles Elvan Cobb, Jr. is an American businessman. He is currently the chief executive officer and senior managing director of Cobb Partners, Ltd., an investment firm. He was the chairman and chief executive officer of Arvida Corporation and Disney Development Company during the 1970s and 1980s. Arvida was a public company and then a subsidiary of Penn Central Transportation Company and later of The Walt Disney Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City National Bank of Florida</span> Bank in Florida, United States

City National Bank of Florida (CNBFL), based in Miami, Florida, is the second-largest financial institution in the state with over $26 billion in assets. CNBFL has 30 branches, from Miami-Dade County to the greater Orlando area, and nearly 1,000 employees. Since 2015, CNBFL has been owned by Chilean bank BCI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Usina</span>

Leonard Usina was an American banker and philanthropist in the twentieth century who worked primarily in Miami, Florida, and St. Augustine, Florida.

References

  1. ↑ City National Bank completes acquisition of TotalBank https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2018/06/18/city-national-bank-completes-buy-of-totalbank.html
  2. ↑ City National Bank financials on the website. http://www.citynationalcm.com/home/about/financial Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 "Miami, FL - Jewish Philanthropist Shares His Wealth Of $60 Million With All Of His Employees". Vos Iz Neias . February 16, 2009.
  4. ↑ Zerivitz, Marcia Jo (February 18, 2009). Jews of Greater Miami. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   9781531644154.
  5. ↑ Memmott, A. James (February 26, 2009). "Leonard Abess - a banker who gave away millions". Muckety. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  6. ↑ Bryher, Monique. "Leonard Abess Jr. – the role model for corporate responsibility". Norfolk Examiner.
  7. ↑ "Banker hands out $60M to workers". UPI. February 15, 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  8. ↑ Kampeas, Ron (February 25, 2009). "Jewish banker sets heartfelt tone for Obama speech". Jewish Telegraph Agency.
  9. ↑ Brannigan, Martha. "Miami banker praised by Obama wasn't seeking limelight". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2010-02-04.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Munzenrieder, Kyle. "Leonard Abess Makes TIME 100" . Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  11. ↑ "Leonard and Jayne Abess endow Ecosystem Science and Policy Center with a $5 million gift". October 26, 2006. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  12. ↑ "In the News - October 26/2006". University of Miami. Archived from the original on 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  13. ↑ "Chamber chooses Abesses for Sand in My Shoes award". South Florida Business Journal. August 16, 2006. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  14. ↑ "University of Miami: Board of Trustees". www6.miami.edu. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
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.