James H. Binger

James H. Binger
Born 1916 (1916)
St. Paul, Minnesota
Died November 5, 2004(2004-11-05) (aged 87–88)
Minneapolis
Occupation Entrepreneur
Net worth $900 million
Website www.mcknight.org

James Henry Binger (1916 – November 5, 2004) was a lawyer who became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell. He was also a well-known philanthropist, horse enthusiast and New York City and Minneapolis theatre owner and entrepreneur.

Career

The son of a doctor, Binger grew up on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended Saint Paul Academy,[1] where he met his wife Virginia McKnight, daughter of 3M Chairman William L. McKnight. He earned an economics degree from Yale University (class of 1938), where his lifelong interest in the theatre was sparked.[2] He next earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School and upon graduation joined Minneapolis law firm Dorsey & Whitney, where Honeywell was a client.[3]

Binger joined Honeywell in 1943, and became its president in 1961 and its chairman in 1965. On becoming Chairman, he revamped the company sales approach, placing emphasis on profits rather than volume. He also stepped up the company's international expansion, and officially changed the company's corporate name from Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Co to Honeywell.[4]

Under Binger's stewardship from 1961 to 1978 the company expanded into such fields as defense, aerospace, computers and cameras. Honeywell was one of the eight major computer companies (with IBM — the largest — Burroughs, Scientific Data Systems, Control Data Corporation, General Electric, RCA and UNIVAC) through most of the 1960s. In 1970, Honeywell bought General Electric's computer division.

Outside Honeywell

Binger was a world traveler who had financial interests in the Minnesota Vikings, Butler Square in downtown Minneapolis and several hundred acres of land, including a polo field in western Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Tartan Farm

Binger was a horse man who played polo on weekends.[4] He and Virginia took over operations of her father's Tartan Farm in Ocala, Florida, in 1974, and became its owners when Virginia's father died in 1978. During their stewardship, Tartan Farm bred 1980 Preakness Stakes winner Codex and 1990 three-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled. The Bingers also bred and owned 1978 champion sprinter Dr. Patches, a son of McKnight's horse Dr. Fager. Tartan dispersed the majority of its horses at the 1987 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale, including Unbridled, who sold as a weanling for $70,000.

Binger served as chairman of Calder Race Course in Miami from the late 1970s through the '80s. He received recognition for his contributions to horse racing and was the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Champion Award recipient in 2000.[5] Tartan Farm is now under new ownership, and known as Winding Oaks Farm.

Theatre

Virginia had a love of theatre, and when her father wanted to sell his two theatres, Binger stepped in to assist. He found the business fascinating, and after paying the gift tax and selling the Colonial Theatre in Boston, he and Virginia retained the St. James Theatre on Broadway and agreed to expand the operation. Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation, named after their children (JUdith, JAMes, and CYNthia), expanded to five theatres, becoming the third-largest company on Broadway behind the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization. Their theatres are: (1) the St. James Theatre (acquired 1970), (2) Al Hirschfeld Theatre, (3) Eugene O'Neill Theatre (acquired 1982), (4) the Walter Kerr Theatre, and (5) the Virginia (acquired 1981), now the August Wilson Theatre:

Jujamcyn owned only five of the 40 Broadway district playhouses, but created a much-envied business model that has accounted for as much as one-third of Broadway's gross revenues. One box office juggernaut was the musical The Producers, which won a record 12 Tony Awards in 2001.[3]

Binger was a life member of the board of the Guthrie Theater, in Minneapolis, his hometown. He was also a director of the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York and a member of the executive committee of the League of American Theaters (now the Broadway League, co-presenters of the Tony Awards).[2] On the announcement of Binger's death in 2004, The League of American Theatres and Producers announced that Broadway's marquees would be dimmed at 8 PM on November 4 in tribute.

Landesman then announced that he planned to buy Jujamcyn Theatres, telling the New York Times that he had a long-standing understanding with Binger that he would buy Jujamcyn's five playhouses. The theatres had an estimated net asset value of about $30 million.

Philanthropist

Binger was a leading member of his father-in-law's McKnight foundation, and set up his own Robina Foundation on his death. He also made various other direct philanthropic donations, including:

Personal life

Having dated since high school, Binger and Virginia McKnight married on June 24, 1939, slightly less than three months before her 23rd birthday. They were married for over 60 years and had three children: James (Mac), Cynthia and Judith (died 1989). The couple lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Ardmore, Pennsylvania, before returning to the Twin Cities, settling in Wayzata, Minnesota. On her father's death, Virginia McKnight Binger became Minneapolis's richest woman. She died on December 22, 2002. After Virginia's death, Binger sold the house they had shared and moved to downtown Minneapolis.

Jane K. Mauer was president of the Tartan Investment Company, which handled Binger's financial affairs. When Binger moved downtown, he became close to Mauer and they eventually became a couple. But as his colon cancer progressed, his mental state deteriorated. The Binger family took court action to prevent their father from making what they considered bad decisions, and specifically from endangering the McKnight Trust.[9]

Death

Binger died of colon cancer on November 8, 2004. In December 2005, Minnesota state announced a surplus, including a death duties tax payment of $112M. It was announced that this was the largest estate tax payment state officials could recall. Minnesota Revenue Department's estate tax supervisor Greg Hoyt summed up his reaction as "WOW!" Binger's granddaughter Noa Staryk later confirmed it was from Binger's estate and that they were pursuing court action to recover $200M bequeathed to Jane K. Mauer in a late will change. A tax expert estimated that there would have been a similar payment to federal tax authorities, and estimated the size of the estate at $900M, even before including the Robina Trust fund of $200M.[10]

The latest theory as to why so much tax was due is similar to the case involving Anna Nicole Smith: property investment, and transfer of these assets to surviving family members.

Trivia

Quotations

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 3 Yale School of Drama, alumni magazine, Fall 2008, pg. 52 Archived December 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 3 McKnight Obituary
  4. 1 2 3 Time magazine interview on becoming COO
  5. 1 2 Racing Museum Obituary
  6. ↑ NYC theatre listing
  7. ↑ Virginia E. McKnight papers
  8. ↑ Robina Foundation website
  9. ↑ Star Tribune archives article: "Millions ride on donor's state of mind", January 30, 2006, fee for access]
  10. ↑ wcco.com article
  11. ↑ City Pages article
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