Daniel K. Ludwig

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Daniel K. Ludwig (June 24, 1897, South Haven, Michigan - August 27, 1992) was a US shipping magnate and billionaire.

He was born as the son of a real estate agent. Ludwig's first venture into shipping was at the age of 9, when he salvaged a 26-foot (8 m) boat. He left school at the end of eighth grade to work in various shipping related jobs, learning on the job such trades as machinist, marine engineer, and ship handler. When his parents separated, he went with his father to Port Arthur, Texas, where he sold supplies to sailing ships and steamers. He returned to Michigan to take a job at a marine engine plant, which sent him to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

At 19, he went into business for himself, transporting molasses around the Great Lakes. In the 1930s, he came up with the idea that became the basis for his eventual fortune. He had oil companies charter unbuilt tankers from him. He then would borrow the cost of building the tankers from a bank, using the charter agreements as collateral. His National Bulk Carriers became one of the largest USA shipping companies, and he eventually owned about 60 vessels. His shipyards used welding instead of riveting — that saved time during World War II when there was huge demand for new ships. After the war, his ships transported oil around the world. He pioneered oil supertankers in the 1950s. Supertankers soon became the standard way of transporting oil around the world.

Ludwig diversified into an oil refinery, banking, cattle ranching, insurance, and real estate. He invested in various mining and exploration projects in Americas, Africa, Australia and the Middle East. He created a chain of luxury hotels in Mexico, Bermuda and the Bahamas, and developed Westlake Village, California.

In 1967, Ludwig purchased about 4 million acres (16,000 km²) of land near the mouth of the Amazon River. His agricultural ventures on that land, called the Jari project, ultimately proved much less successful than his earlier shipping ventures. Large losses and mounting criticism of his business practices led him to hand over the project to Brazilian investors in 1981.

Even though Ludwig was one of the wealthiest men of his day, his name was little known. Throughout his business life, he maintained a low profile and ceased speaking to the press in the 1950s. Jerry Shields's 1986 biography was titled The Invisible Billionaire: Daniel Ludwig.

In 1971, Ludwig founded the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, which became his primary interest in old age.

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[edit] References

  • Shields, Jerry (1986). The invisible billionaire, Daniel Ludwig. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-35402-1. 
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