Eddie Lampert

Eddie Lampert
Born Edward Scott Lampert
(1962-07-19) July 19, 1962
Roslyn, New York, US
Nationality American
Occupation Businessman, investor
Net worth Decrease $2.2 Billion USD (September 2016)[1]
Spouse(s) Kinga Lampert (m. 2001)
Children 3[1]
Parent(s) Floyd M. Lampert
Dolores Lampert

Edward Scott "Eddie" Lampert (born July 19, 1962)[2] is an American businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings (SHLD) and founder, chairman, and CEO of ESL Investments. Until May 2007 he was a director of AutoNation, Inc.[3] He previously served as a director of AutoZone, Inc. from July 1999 to October 2006.[4]

Early life and education

Lampert was born in 1962 to Dolores Lampert and Floyd M. Lampert. His mother was a housewife. His father was a senior partner in the law firm of Lampert & Lampert in New York City. He has a younger sister Tracey.[5] Lampert's grandmother was a passive investor and big fan of Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street Week television program. She instilled in him an interest in investing. His mother would later recall that young Eddie would sit with his grandmother reviewing and evaluating the performance of her stock picks in the daily newspaper.[2]

Lampert's father died at the age of 47 and his mother took a job as a clerk at Saks Fifth Avenue.[6] His mother would later say: "Eddie really assumed the responsibility, knowing that life had changed and we had to accomplish something by ourselves now."[2] In order to help support his family, Eddie worked after school and on weekends at various warehouses, stocking shelves and filling orders. Despite working, he earned good grades, played both soccer and basketball, and won the scholar athlete award at his high school. He received financial aid to help pay for college.[6] Lampert graduated from Yale University in 1984 (B.A., economics, summa cum laude), where he was a member of Skull and Bones[2][7] and Phi Beta Kappa.

Career

In July 1984, Lampert worked as an intern at Goldman Sachs, and then worked in the firm's risk arbitrage department from March 1985 to February 1988. While there, he worked directly with Robert Rubin. When Lampert decided to go out on his own, Rubin warned him it would be a bad career decision.

In April 1988, Lampert left the bank to form ESL Investments, based in Greenwich, Connecticut (the name ESL derives from Lampert's initials). Richard Rainwater, whom Lampert had met on Nantucket Island, gave him $28 million in seed money and introduced him to clients, such as David Geffen.

Lampert typically holds his investments for several years and usually has between three and fifteen stocks in his portfolio. His investment style was once drawing comparisons to the financier Warren Buffett.[2]

Lampert's earnings in 2004 were estimated to be $1.02 billion, making him the first Wall Street financial manager to exceed an income of $1 billion in a single year.[8] In 2006, Lampert was featured on the Time 100 list for most influential people in the world for being one of the "brightest minds on Wall Street" and leading a new class of activist hedge funds.[9] Lampert was the richest person in Connecticut in 2006 with a net worth of $3.8 billion.[10]

Lampert's earnings in 2006 were estimated to be from $1.0 to $1.5 billion.

In March 2012, Lampert was No. 367 on the Forbes world wealthiest people list with a net worth of $3.1 billion.[11] By August, 2016, Lampert had fallen to No. 810 on the list, with a net worth of $2.2 billion.[1][12]

In January 2013, it was announced that Lampert would take over as chief executive officer at Sears after Louis D'Ambrosio stepped down due to family health matters, which took effect in May 2013.[13] In July 2016 he held 28% of shares in Sears Holdings Corp worth of approximately $408 million.[14]

Lampert is an avid follower of Ayn Rand[15] and has used elements of Rand's philosophy to guide his business decisions.[16]

In early 2017, Lampert, then president, chief executive officer and top shareholder of Sears Holdings, was estimated to have personal assets of $2 billion, primarily in the hedge fund ESL Investments Inc.[17] Early in the year, he committed to providing an additional loan of $500 million to Sears and said he would provide letters of credit to Sears for additional amounts, reportedly totaling $200 million and possibly increasing to a half billion dollars in the future.[18]

He has been strongly criticized by employees and corporate staff for "shredding" his employees in corporate meetings and "being out of touch with reality," as well as for failing to invest in the physical stores, as many of them are deteriorating. [19]

Personal life

In 2001, he married Kinga Lampert and they have three children.[1][2] They have homes in Indian Creek Village, Florida,[20] Aspen, Colorado,[21] and Greenwich, Connecticut.[22] The couple are active members of their local Chabad house.[23]

In 2003, Lampert was kidnapped from the parking lot of his Greenwich office, but was able to convince his captors to let him go after two days of captivity.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Eddie Lampert September 2016
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Berner, Robert (November 22, 2004). "The Next Warren Buffett?". Businessweek. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  3. ↑ Miller, James P. (March 26, 2007). "Sears chief won't run for AutoNation's board". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  4. ↑ "SEC filing". AutoZone, Inc. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Gary R. Smith Is Wed To Tracey R. Lampert". The New York Times. April 1, 1990.
  6. 1 2 Sellers, Patricia (February 6, 2006). "Eddie Lampert: The best investor of his generation". CNN Money.
  7. ↑ Robbins, Alexandra (2002). Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Little, Brown and Company. p. 180.
  8. ↑ Martin, Patrick (2005-06-09). "Highest Wall Street pay tops $1 billion a year". Retrieved 2007-04-14.
  9. ↑ Kadlec, Daniel (2006-05-08). "The 2006 Time 100". content.time.com.
  10. ↑ "The 400 Richest Americans (Connecticut Rankings)". Forbes.com. 2006-09-21.
  11. ↑ Mason, Melvin. "Greenwich Home to Billionaires on Forbes List". The Greenwich Daily Voice. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  12. ↑ "Edward Lampert".
  13. ↑ Smith, Aaron (January 8, 2013). "Hedge fund manager Lampert adds CEO role at Sears". CNN Money. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  14. ↑ "LAMPERT EDWARD Insider Trading". InsiderMole.com. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  15. ↑ Mina Kimes, "At Sears, Eddie Lampert's Warring Divisions Model Adds to the Troubles", Bloomberg Business, July 11, 2013.
  16. ↑ Lynn Parramore, "Ayn Rand-loving CEO destroys his empire", Salon, December 10, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Edward Lampert". Forbes. Forbes. January 9, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017. ...took over as Sears CEO in 2013 ... has presided over a remarkable dismantling.
  18. ↑ Sweeney, Brigid (January 5, 2017). "With Craftsman sale, Sears takes another step toward the grave". Chicago Business. Crain Communication, Inc. Retrieved January 9, 2017. The company may need $2.5 billion in cash to get through 2017 amid sales declines and store closures, including almost $600 million in minimum pension contributions.
  19. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/sears-failing-stores-closing-edward-lampert-bankruptcy-chances-2017-1
  20. ↑ "Edward Lampert". Forbes. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Parcel Detail".
  22. ↑ Fabrikant, Geraldine (February 17, 2002). "Personal Business; Big Returns, Minus the Pleasantries". The New York Times.
  23. ↑ Jewish Business News: "Edward Lampert’s Plan to Re-Organize Sears Begins to Take Shape" November 26, 2013 | They live in Greenwich Connecticut, where they are active members of the local Chabad House
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