Henry Crown

Henry Crown "was born of humble beginnings and by the force of his ingenuity, compassion and vision, overcame countless challenges to become one of the 20th century's most innovative and successful industrialists.

"With a small investment in 1919, he co-founded Material Service Corp., a sand and gravel company, and grew it into one of the country's leading construction companies... "He aggressively diversified his business interests to include defense contracting, railroad, mining, farming, recreation and trucking. With disciplined risk-taking and superior financial acumen, the full force of these investments eventually resulted in the creation of Henry Crown and Company, one of the leading private investment groups in the country.

"Today, the Crown Family owns and manages operating companies and real estate investments with combined annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.

"It also maintains significant investments in a broad range of publicly traded corporations - with extensive Board of Directors representation - including General Dynamics, Hilton Hotels, Bank One, The Maytag Corporation, Alltel and Sara Lee."

"Henry Crown, founder of General Dynamics Corporation, and her three sons, Robert (WCAS, 1942), Lester (Tech, 1946) and John (Law, 1955). Henry Crown had long been a Northwestern University Associate and Lester Crown served as a Northwestern Trustee for many years." Super bio

His wife was Rebecca Kranz Crown.

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * James S. Crown
 * Henry Crown Fellowship Program