Jerry Speyer
Encyclopedia
Jerry I. Speyer is an American real estate
tycoon. He is one of two founding partners of the prominent New York
real estate
company Tishman Speyer. Speyer is also the owner of the Chrysler Building
and Rockefeller Center
.
, "[Speyer's] mother is Swiss, and his father comes from one of the old Jewish families of Frankfurt; his father fled Germany
in 1939. Speyer grew up in a cultivated and proper German-Jewish household on Riverside Drive. He graduated from the prestigious private high school Horace Mann School
. At Columbia University
, he majored in German literature
and joined Zeta Beta Tau
, a Jewish fraternity
. Speyer was one of those people who were solid, and even solemn, at an age when others are still flailing and unsure of themselves." Speyer graduated from Columbia College
in 1962 and received an MBA from Columbia Business School
in 1964.
. Speyer has served as President & CEO of Tishman Speyer since his father-in-law Robert Tishman
and he formed the company in 1978.
Speyer is deputy chair and a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
, vice chairman of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, chairman of the Museum of Modern Art
, and vice chair on the Board of Trustees of the Rand Corporation. Speyer is also chair of the Executive Committee and chairman emeritus of Columbia University, chair emeritus of the Real Estate Board of New York, and past president of the Board of Trustees of the Dalton School.
Speyer sits on the board of Carnegie Hall
, alongside Sanford Weill, the former chairman of Citigroup
, with whom he has a close business relationship (see External Links below). His other board affiliations include Siemens AG
and the Real Estate Roundtable, and have included YankeeNets, the New York Presbyterian Foundation, Inc., and the Urban Land Institute
. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
.
On October 17, 2006, Speyer signed a deal to buy Stuyvesant Town
and Peter Cooper Village, 12,232 apartments in 110 buildings along the East River
in Manhattan
, for $5.4 billion. In January 2010, Speyer defaulted on the loan, losing millions for the investors.
Speyer campaigned for former New York State Governor, Eliot Spitzer
, paid for a political exhibition in Grand Central Terminal
, and was a member of Governor Spitzer's cabinet. As a political advisor, Speyer is immune from investigative questions in the Governor's "troopergate" scandal.
Speyer is also chairman of the Museum of Modern Art
, and chair emeritus of the influential Partnership for New York City, founded by David Rockefeller
.
Farley graduated from Brown University
in 1971, and continued her studies at the Masters of Architecture Program of the Harvard Graduate School of Design
, graduating in 1976. She served as manager of new business development for East Asia and the Pacific for Turner International Industries, before joining Tishman Speyer in 1984.
She is a senior managing director at the Tishman Speyer, responsible for the company's real estate activities in Latin America, and for the company's expansion into other emerging markets, chairs the company’s Compensation Committee, and is a member of the Management, Investment, and Executive Committees.
She is also chairwoman of Lincoln Center's redevelopment. In addition, she is on the executive committee of the International Rescue Committee
, a refugee relief and resettlement organization; is chairman emerita of Women in Need, which helps homeless women and children in New York City; is a vice president of the Brearley School
, and a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Alvin Ailey
Dance Foundation. Farley served on the boards of Lincoln Center Theater and the New York Philharmonic
.
The couple met at Tishman Speyer. They began dating in 1988, a year after the divorce of Speyer and Lynne Tishman, whose great-grandfather Julius Tishman founded Tishman Realty and Construction, of which Tishman Speyer is a spinoff. They were married in 1991.
They have a daughter named Laura (18); he has three older children from his previous marriage, Robert, Valerie and Holly.
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
tycoon. He is one of two founding partners of the prominent New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
company Tishman Speyer. Speyer is also the owner of the Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
and Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
.
Early life
According to a 1998 profile in The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "[Speyer's] mother is Swiss, and his father comes from one of the old Jewish families of Frankfurt; his father fled Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1939. Speyer grew up in a cultivated and proper German-Jewish household on Riverside Drive. He graduated from the prestigious private high school Horace Mann School
Horace Mann School
Horace Mann School is an independent college preparatory school in New York City, New York, United States founded in 1887 known for its rigorous course of studies. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from all across the New York tri-state area from...
. At Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he majored in German literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
and joined Zeta Beta Tau
Zeta Beta Tau
Zeta Beta Tau was founded in 1898 as the nation's first Jewish fraternity, although it is no longer sectarian. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is one of the largest, numbering over 140,000 initiated Brothers, and over 90 chapter locations.-Founding:The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity was...
, a Jewish fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
. Speyer was one of those people who were solid, and even solemn, at an age when others are still flailing and unsure of themselves." Speyer graduated from Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
in 1962 and received an MBA from Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...
in 1964.
Business career
Speyer began his career in 1964 as Assistant to the Vice President of Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. Speyer has served as President & CEO of Tishman Speyer since his father-in-law Robert Tishman
Robert Tishman
Robert Valentine Tishman was an American real estate developer who had been head of the family-owned firm Tishman Realty and Construction until it was disestablished in 1977, and was one of the two founding partners of Tishman Speyer, which was formed in 1978 and became one of the largest owners...
and he formed the company in 1978.
Speyer is deputy chair and a member of the Executive Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...
, vice chairman of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, chairman of the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and vice chair on the Board of Trustees of the Rand Corporation. Speyer is also chair of the Executive Committee and chairman emeritus of Columbia University, chair emeritus of the Real Estate Board of New York, and past president of the Board of Trustees of the Dalton School.
Speyer sits on the board of Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, alongside Sanford Weill, the former chairman of Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
, with whom he has a close business relationship (see External Links below). His other board affiliations include Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
and the Real Estate Roundtable, and have included YankeeNets, the New York Presbyterian Foundation, Inc., and the Urban Land Institute
Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a non-profit research and education organization with offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London...
. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
On October 17, 2006, Speyer signed a deal to buy Stuyvesant Town
Stuyvesant Town
Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village is a large private residential development on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and one of the most iconic and successful post-World War II private housing communities...
and Peter Cooper Village, 12,232 apartments in 110 buildings along the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, for $5.4 billion. In January 2010, Speyer defaulted on the loan, losing millions for the investors.
Speyer campaigned for former New York State Governor, Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
, paid for a political exhibition in Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, and was a member of Governor Spitzer's cabinet. As a political advisor, Speyer is immune from investigative questions in the Governor's "troopergate" scandal.
Speyer is also chairman of the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and chair emeritus of the influential Partnership for New York City, founded by David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
.
Family
Speyer is married to the socially connected Katherine G. Farley, who sits on the Executive Committee of Lincoln Center.Farley graduated from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1971, and continued her studies at the Masters of Architecture Program of the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
, graduating in 1976. She served as manager of new business development for East Asia and the Pacific for Turner International Industries, before joining Tishman Speyer in 1984.
She is a senior managing director at the Tishman Speyer, responsible for the company's real estate activities in Latin America, and for the company's expansion into other emerging markets, chairs the company’s Compensation Committee, and is a member of the Management, Investment, and Executive Committees.
She is also chairwoman of Lincoln Center's redevelopment. In addition, she is on the executive committee of the International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
, a refugee relief and resettlement organization; is chairman emerita of Women in Need, which helps homeless women and children in New York City; is a vice president of the Brearley School
Brearley School
The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, New York, United States. It is located on the Upper East Side of the Manhattan borough of New York City. The school is divided into the Lower School , Middle School and Upper School...
, and a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance...
Dance Foundation. Farley served on the boards of Lincoln Center Theater and the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
.
The couple met at Tishman Speyer. They began dating in 1988, a year after the divorce of Speyer and Lynne Tishman, whose great-grandfather Julius Tishman founded Tishman Realty and Construction, of which Tishman Speyer is a spinoff. They were married in 1991.
They have a daughter named Laura (18); he has three older children from his previous marriage, Robert, Valerie and Holly.
See also
- Rockefeller CenterRockefeller CenterRockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
- Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
- Lincoln Center
- Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
External links
- Tishman Speyer official site;
- Megadeal: Inside a Real Estate Coup, New York Times, December 31, 2006 Profiles Tishman Speyer and Jerry and Rob Speyer and the purchase of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan.
- New York's Cultural Power Brokers New York Times article on Jerry Speyer of Tishman Speyer Properties and his many connections to Sanford Weill of Citigroup, as well as to David Rockefeller through the Museum of Modern Art and Rockefeller Center.