The Wolfson family is a British Jewish family known for its business, philanthropic, and political activities. The family owes its initial fame to Sir Isaac Wolfson, who built the Great Universal Stores retail empire and created the Wolfson Foundation. [1]
The family is of Polish-Jewish and Russian-Jewish ancestry and has branches in the U.K., the U.S., and Israel. The original family business, GUS, was eventually demerged into Home Retail Group, which included Argos and Homebase, and credit company Experian. [2] Other businesses led or controlled by family members include the retailers Burberry and Next, and the pharmaceutical company Shaklee. [3] [4]
Family patriarch Solomon Wolfson immigrated from Białystok to Glasgow, Scotland, with his wife Nechi (née Wilamowski) at the end of the 19th century. He was a furniture maker and Jewish community leader, later appointed Justice of the Peace. [5] His son Isaac Wolfson built the family retail business and founded the Wolfson Foundation and the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust. Isaac was joined at GUS by his brother Charles Wolfson and later succeeded by his son Leonard Wolfson, and his nephews David Wolfson and Victor Barnett. By World War II the family was based in London, with the Samuel Wolfson branch having moved to Israel. During the Blitz, Solomon's daughter Edith took many of the family children (the third generation) to seek refuge in the United States for the duration of the war. After World War II various family members moved permanently to New York. Today, family members live in London, New York, and Israel. [1] [5]
A family descended from devout Orthodox Jews, the Wolfsons followed the religious and charitable example of their patriarch Solomon and the middle-European community from which he came. Isaac Wolfson is quoted as having said, "No man should have more than £100,000. The rest should go to charity." [1] The Wolfson Foundation was established in 1955, endowed with shares in the family businesses, to support and promote excellence in education, science & medicine, the arts & humanities, and health & disability. The Foundation has awarded over £900 million (£1.9 billion in real terms) in grants to more than 11,000 projects throughout the U.K., including the founding endowments for Wolfson College, Oxford and Wolfson College, Cambridge. The Foundation also operates the Wolfson History Prize. [6] The Wolfson Economics Prize is individually sponsored by Simon Wolfson.
Through the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust and various forms of personal giving, the family have also been among Israel's earliest and most significant supporters, as well as major supporters of Jewish life in Britain and New York. In Israel, the Charitable Trust has been a primary supporter of the Weizmann Institute, the Kiryat Wolfson developments, Heichal Shlomo and the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, and Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv, among many other projects. [1] Family members were also founding benefactors of Bar Ilan University and The Israel Museum, as well as Lincoln Square Synagogue and Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York. [7] [8]
Created in 1962, the Wolfson Baronetcy was one of the last baronetcies and among the last non-royal hereditary titles created in the United Kingdom. In addition, three family members have been created life peers as Lord Wolfson, and many family members and their spouses have received honours for their charitable services. [5]
Charles Bronfman, is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion in 2023, Bronfman was ranked by Forbes as the 1,217th wealthiest person in the world.
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild,, is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family.
GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the Glorious Gussies amongst stockbrokers. The company started out as Universal Stores, a mail order business created by the Rose family. In 1931, Isaac Wolfson joined the mail order company and would, through a series of takeovers, turn it into a retail, manufacturing and financial conglomerate, becoming Europe's biggest mail order firm and with over 2,700 physical stores. His son, Leonard Wolfson, followed him as chairman, to be succeeded by his nephews David Wolfson (1996–2000) and Victor Barnett (2000–2002). During the 1980s, the business divested much of its physical retail and manufacturing subsidiaries under Leonard Wolfson to concentrate on mail order, property and finance. In October 2006, the company was split into two separate companies: Experian which continues to exist, and Home Retail Group which was bought by Sainsbury's in 2016.
See also Woolf, Woolfe, Wolfe, Wolff, Wolfson and Woolfson.
The Wolfson Foundation is large UK registered charity that awards grants to support excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education and the arts and humanities. It was established in 1955 and re-registered in 2014.
Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet FRS was a Scottish businessman and philanthropist. He was managing director of Great Universal Stores 1932–1947 and chairman 1947–1987. He established the Wolfson Foundation to distribute most of his fortune to good causes. Great Universal Stores was a mail order business. He joined the company as a merchandising controller in 1932, becoming joint managing director in the same year. The company was in trouble when he joined but he turned it round and made it into a very strong business and the principal source of his wealth. He also had other successful business ventures. He was succeeded by his son Leonard Wolfson.
The Charles H. Revson Foundation was founded in 1956 by Charles H. Revson, the founding President of Revlon Cosmetics as a vehicle for his charitable giving. He willed half of his estate to the Foundation upon his death. Julie Sandorf has been the President of the Foundation since January 2008.
Order of Ancient Maccabeans is an Anglo-Jewish society. The order is a friendly society established in 1894, and registered on 8 May 1901, under the Friendly Societies' Act, as amended 1896.
Barry Stephen Townsley is a British financier and investor. He is married to Laura Wolfson, daughter of Leonard Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of the GUS retail company. He is the father of four children and an active support of education, health and fine art charities.
Leonard Gordon Wolfson, Baron Wolfson, FRS HonFREng was a British businessman, the former chairman of GUS, and son of GUS magnate Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet. He is the father of Janet Wolfson de Botton.
Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley, was a British landowner and politician.
The Jerusalem Great Synagogue, is located at 56 King George Street, Jerusalem.
Shaklee Corporation is an American manufacturer and multi-level marketing distributor of natural nutrition supplements, weight-management products, beauty products, and household products. The company is based in Pleasanton, California with global operations in Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
Dame Janet Frances de Botton, is a British art collector and philanthropist.
Leopold Noé is a British multi-millionaire property investor. His net worth is at least £606 million based on the 2021 and 2020 Sunday Times Rich List.
Kiryat Wolfson, also known as Wolfson Towers, is a high-rise apartment complex in western Jerusalem. Comprising five towers ranging from 14 to 17 stories above-ground, the project was Jerusalem's first high-rise development. The project encountered opposition from both municipal officials and the public at each stage of its design and construction. The complex includes 10,000 square feet (930 m2) of commercial space and a medical center. The project was financed by the Edith and Isaac Wolfson Trust.
Helaine M. Barnett is an American legal aid attorney and law professor. She is a former president of the Legal Services Corporation and currently chairs the New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice.
Victor J. Barnett is a British-American businessman, former executive chairman of Burberry, and member of the Wolfson family.
Paul Baerwald was a German-born Jewish-American banker and philanthropist.