Leon Hess

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Leon Hess
File:Hess lg.jpg
Leon Hess in 1999
Born Leon Hess
(1914-03-13)March 13, 1914
Asbury Park, New Jersey, U.S.
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
New York, New York, U.S.
Nationality United States
Occupation Founder of the Hess Corporation
Known for Owner of New York Jets
Spouse(s) Norma Wilentz
Children Marlene Hess Zirin
Constance H. Williams
John B. Hess

Leon Hess (March 14, 1914 – May 7, 1999) was the founder of the Hess Corporation and the owner of the New York Jets.

Early life

Hess was born on March 14, 1914[1] to a Jewish family[2] in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His parents were Ethel and Mores Hess, who was a kosher butcher who emigrated from Lithuania[1] and - after arriving in the United States - worked as an oil delivery man in Asbury Park, New Jersey.[1][3] Hess worked as a driver for his father's company and - after it went bankrupt in 1933 during the Great Depression - he reorganized the company.[1] He built an oil terminal in Perth Amboy, New Jersey out of old oil tankers and aggressively underbid his competitors to win Federal oil contracts.[1] He served in World War II, rising to the rank of Major, and serving as the fuel supply officer for General George S. Patton where he further developed his logistical expertise.[1]

Career

After the war, using an innovative network of smaller terminals, Hess' success continued. In the late 1950s, he built his first refinery; and in 1960, he opened a chain of gas stations.[1] In the early 1960s he built the world's largest oil refinery at the time on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands in order to take advantage of federal tax benefits. The refinery was able to secure foreign refiner status (allowing it to circumvent the federal rule that required the use of higher-cost U.S.-flagged vessels when shipping oil to the East Coast) while also receiving subsidies from the United States Department of Energy as a domestic refinery.[1] In 1963, his company, Hess Oil and Chemical, went public.[1] In 1969, using the proceeds from the Hess sale, he acquired the Amerada Petroleum Corporation, one of the largest producers of crude oil in the United States and - as part of the purchase - merged it with his former company, Hess Oil and Chemical - to form the Amerada Hess Corporation. Hess served as chairman and CEO of Amerada Hess until 1995.

New York Jets

In 1963, he was part of a consortium that bought the New York Jets which included Hess, Sonny Werblin, Philip H. Iselin, Townsend B. Martin and Donald Lillis.[4] His initial investment was $250,000.[1]

He bought out his partners: Sonny Werblin in 1968,[5] the heirs of Philip H. Iselin in 1977, Townsend Martin in 1981[6] and became the sole owner of the club after purchasing the last quarter-share from Helen Dillon, Lillis' daughter, in 1984.[4]

The Jets played in Shea Stadium in 1964 after four seasons in the Polo Grounds. In 1984 Hess moved the team to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. When he owned the Jets, he would eat dinner after almost every home game at Lusardi's.[7]

Personal life and death

In 1947, he married Norma Wilentz[1] who was also Jewish.[8] Wilentz's father was the former Attorney General David T. Wilentz who prosecuted Bruno Richard Hauptmann in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case.[1] They had three children: Marlene Hess Zirin, Constance H. Williams, and John B. Hess.[1] His daughter Marlene is married to lawyer, writer and cable TV talk show host, James D. Zirin.[9]

Hess died at Lenox Hill Hospital on May 7, 1999 from a "blood disease".[3][10]

Legacy

In 2011, Hess was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.[11]

In 2014, the New York Jets selected Hess, along with former WR Wayne Chrebet to be the year's inductees into its Ring of Honor.[12]

Leon Hess Business School at Monmouth University and Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine were named for him.

References

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  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 New York Times: "Leon Hess, Who Built a Major Oil Company and Owned the Jets, Is Dead at 85" By GERALD ESKENAZI May 08, 1999
  2. ↑ We Are Many: Reflections On American Jewish History And Identity By Edward S Shapiro pages 123-124 | retrieved April 6, 2013
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ New Jersey Star Ledger: "Norma Wilentz Hess" April 22, 2010
  9. ↑ New York Times: "Marlene Hess, a Banking Executive, Is Married to James Zirin, a Lawyer" May 19, 1990
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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