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Posted on: Sunday, July 2, 2006

Harry Weinberg

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

Harry Weinberg pointed out his Dallas holdings, circa 1961. Much of the Austrian immigrant's wealth was derived from real estate, securities and the buying and selling of bus systems in several cities, Honolulu among them. Advertiser library photo

Harry Weinberg was a self-made multimillionaire, real-estate baron, corporate raider and hard-boiled financial character who founded a billion-dollar philanthropic organization that bears his name and that of his late wife, Jeanette.

Born in Austria in 1908, Weinberg ended his formal education in Baltimore in the 6th grade. From there, he focused his life on leaving poverty and making as much money as possible — which, by the time he died in 1990, had come to $900 million.

Capable of being ruthless in his business dealings, Weinberg was the kind of fabulously wealthy person who was known to scream loudly at pay phone operators any time he lost a dime.

Hated by executives who feared him or corporate board members who had been on the receiving end of his wrath, Weinberg also had admirers who were acquainted with his warm side and appreciated his efforts to help the poor.

Since the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation was formed in 1959, it has given away more than a billion dollars to causes that have benefited the less fortunate.

Others credited Weinberg with understanding Hawai'i's business potential and pressuring others to realize the value of local companies.

Much of Weinberg's wealth was derived from securities, real estate (some 2,000 acres in Hawai'i), and in buying and selling bus systems in New York City; Scranton, Pa.; Dallas; and Honolulu — which, along with Baltimore, he considered his home and where he made much of his fortune, usually by acquiring undervalued assets.