Daniel K. Ludwig

Daniel K. Ludwig (1897-1992)

"Born on June 24, 1897 in the lakeside town South Haven, Michigan, Daniel K. Ludwig ended his formal schooling with the eighth grade. His early working life was spent as ship chandler, machinist, sea-going engineer and operator of a tug and barge. Educated by experience and observation, Mr. Ludwig went on to own and operate a commanding complement of some 60 ocean-going vessels at the height of his career.

"In building his fleet, Mr. Ludwig was an innovator in ship design, construction and financing. His leadership in the progressive and continual expansion of tanker size pioneered the development of today's supertanker and enabled substantial reductions in the cost of moving crude oil internationally, yielding significant savings to end-users of oil worldwide...

"In addition to marine transport, Mr. Ludwig participated in major oil and gas projects throughout the world. He was a major investor and operator internationally in the production of coal and other minerals, conducting mining and exploration activities in Latin America, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and North America.

"He developed the Princess chain of luxury hotels in Bermuda, Mexico and the Bahamas and conceived and engineered the development of Westlake Village, California, a residential community of approximately 50,000 which includes shopping centers, office buildings and a hotel. Other investments of Mr. Ludwig in the United States and throughout the world included real estate, cattle ranching, orange groves, banking and insurance.

"One of his last and most monumentous commercial undertakings was the Jari project in Brazil. A combination of forest-products and agricultural development, this enterprise encompassed three million acres in the Amazon Basin.

"In his later years, Mr. Ludwig directed his interests and efforts to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, which he founded in 1971 and endowed with substantially all of his foreign holdings."