Stephen Leopold

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stephen Leopold (born November 15, 1951) is a real estate professional and entrepreneur.

Contents 1 Background 2 Education 3 Career 3.1 In Canada 3.2 In New York

[edit] Background

Born in Montreal, Canada, Leopold is descended from a prominent Montreal family. His paternal grandmother, Rhoda Leopold, was one of Canada's illustrious philanthropists; she was the only person, male or female, to chair the Canadian equivalent of the United Jewish Appeal (now the United Jewish Communities) (UJC), the Combined Jewish Appeal, for four consecutive years. Rhoda Leopold died in 1964, and the "Woman of the Year Award" given by Montreal's Combined Jewish Appeal is honored in her name as the Rhoda Leopold Award. Leopold's father was the late Irwin Leopold, a leading Montreal businessman and developer. Irwin Leopold initiated the development of Westmount Square in Montreal. Westmount Square, a complex of residential and commercial buildings that formed “a city within a city,” was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Some of Irwin Leopold’s other major developments included Burlington Square in Burlington, Vermont; the Royal Bank Building in Ottawa; Lafayette Square in Boston; and the former headquarters of the National Bank of Canada in Old Montreal.

[edit] Education

In Leopold's early years, he attended Selwyn House School, a private school and Westmount High School. He later graduated with honors from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and attended McGill University Faculty of Law.

[edit] Career

[edit] In Canada

In 1973, while still at the McGill Faculty of Law, he became an investigator on the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Activities (Senator Sam Ervin’s Watergate Committee, or The United States Senate Watergate Committee)

Following his initial foray into politics, Leopold began, what would ultimately become, his career in real estate. Over the course of two years, Leopold established himself as one of Montreal’s leading office brokers.

In 1975, Leopold's visibility lead to his appointment as Executive Assistant to Brian Mulroney during Mulroney's 1975-1976 bid for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Mulroney would later become Prime Minister of Canada from 1984-1993. In Mulroney's personal autobiography published in 2007, and titled Brian Mulroney - Memoirs: 1939-1993 (ISBN 978-0-7710-6536-1). Mulroney refers to humorous travel times with Leopold, and calls Leopold "an energetic and affable young Montrealer".

After the campaign ended, Leopold returned to real estate and became the youngest Vice President of Canada’s largest mortgage banker, now a division of the Royal Bank of Canada.

In 1977 Leopold formed Leopold Properties. The firm, subsequently renamed Leopold Property Consultants, became one of the largest companies in North America to represent only tenants. As a result, Leopold and his company represented some of North America's leading companies and professional firms in the development of new office buildings to house their tenancy. These included such Montreal landmarks as 1001 de Maisonneuve Blvd[1] for Aetna Insurance. In May of 1986, while representing Coopers & Lybrand (today PricewaterhouseCoopers), Clarkson Tetrault (today McCarthy Tétrault), and Claridge Investments (the holding company for the descendants of the late Samuel Bronfman), Leopold inspired the redevelopment of one of downtown Montreal's most important heritage sites, The Windsor Hotel[2]. Today "Le Windsor" remains one of the premiere office addresses in the city. This transaction reflected the stature that Leopold had attained by 1986 in the Canadian business community. His leadership in the real estate industry, coupled with his well publicized association with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (1984 - 1993), brought Leopold into the spotlight in the Canadian press. He used this prominence to take controversial public stands. In 1984, as a leader of Montreal's anglophone community, Leopold proclaimed that notwithstanding the threat of the Quebec sovereignty movement, the hydroelectric power resources of Quebec would always sustain it as a vibrant economy [3] . In 1985, he publicly questioned where large pension funds were investing in Montreal, asserting that it was foolish to invest in areas without easy public transportation [4]. In 1986, he led the first Canadian business boycott against the apartheid policies of South Africa at a luncheon hosted by The Canadian Club[5] which featured the head of the Canada-South Africa Trade Committee [6]. In 1989 Leopold was featured in Vista Magazine, a national monthly publication in an article titled "Stephen Leopold - Owner, Leopold Property Consultants - Kingpin of Canadian Real Estate" [7].

[edit] In New York

In 1993 Leopold relocated to New York City to pursue large scale property development in Manhattan. One of Leopold's largest development deals included conceiving and creating nearly two acres of food courts in the World Trade Center [8]. Leopold later sold his interest in the World Trade Center projects shortly before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2003, Leopold took over the leadership of William B. May International, a company formed to propel the William B. May name, New York City's oldest residential real estate firm, into the commercial marketplace. The ownership of William B. May International closed its doors due to the demise of the William B. May Company and the William B. May Company's loss of all 200 of its employees. The William B. May Company was under completely separate ownership and management and was related to William B. May International through the licencing of its name only. Leopold has been a guest speaker and lecturer at numerous universities including: McGill University, The University of Toronto, Concordia University, The University of Alberta, UCLA and Hofstra University.

Leopold has served on the Boards of Directors of the University Club of Montreal, the Edmonton Art Gallery, Ruby Foo's Restaurant and Hotel, the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, and the Canadian Guild of Crafts. He presently serves on the Board of Governors of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute [9].

Recently, Leopold was highlighted as a featured "expert" in Donald Trump's latest book The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies (ISBN 0-307-20999-7). (excerpt)