Guilford Glazer

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Guilford Glazer (born in 1921) is an American real estate developer and philanthropist.

Glazer was born in and grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, one of eight children. After the United States entered World War II, he left college to join the Navy. After the war ended, he returned to East Tennessee and took over a family-owned steel business.

Glazer's entry into the real estate business occurred in 1951, when the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission selected a company headed by Glazer to build a shopping center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A shortage of steel resulting from the Korean War delayed construction, but the center opened in 1955.^[1]

Later, Glazer moved to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, where in the 1970s he developed the Del Amo Fashion Center, which was at one time the world's largest shopping mall. His company was involved in shopping center development throughout the United States, allowing Glazer to amass a considerable fortune. His name appeared regularly on the Forbes magazine "List of 400 Richest Americans"; in 2001 his net worth was estimated at $850 million.^[2]

Now retired, Glazer has sold off most of his real estate holdings. The Del Amo Fashion Center was sold to the Mills Corporation in 2003. In retirement, Glazer has focused on philanthropic causes, particularly in support of Israel.

[edit] Sources

James Bennett, A blueprint for Palestine 'the day after peace', International Herald Tribune, May 21, 2005.
Rob Eshman, Is It Good for Them?, Jewish Journal, 2005-04-29.