Herbert Allen Jr.

Herbert A. Allen Jr. is an American businessman and former president of Allen & Company.

Herbert A. Allen Jr.
Born1940 (age 82–83)
NationalityAmerican
EducationWilliams College (B.A.)
Known forFormer president of Allen & Company Ref: Gore Vidal ("He was born with a platinum spoon in his mouth.."; 'Armageddon?:. Essays 1983-1987')
Spouses
  • Laura Parrish
    (m. ?; div. ?)
​
​
(m. 1982; div. 1989)​
  • Gail Holmes
    (m. ?; div. ?)
Children4, including Herbert Allen III
Parent(s)Herbert A. Allen Sr.
Ethel Strong

Biography

Herbert Allen Jr. is the son of Kathleen and Herbert A. Allen Sr. His father was a high school drop out and stock trader who joined[1] in 1927 an investment firm founded in 1922 by his older brother Charles, Allen & Company.[2] Allen & Company specialized in corporate buyouts.[1][3] A third brother Harold joined soon after.[4] Allen Jr. has one sister, Susan Allen.[1] His mother was an Irish Catholic and his father - although the son of a Jewish mother - was a non-practicing Unitarian.[5]

Allen Jr. was raised in Irvington, New York[5] and graduated from Williams College in 1962 and immediately joined Allen & Company. In 1966, at age twenty-seven, he was appointed President.[6] In 1973, Allen & Company purchased a controlling interest in Columbia Pictures.[7] In 1982, Allen & Company launched the Sun Valley Conference and The Coca-Cola Company bought Columbia for $750 million in cash and stock[7] giving Allen Jr. a seat on the Board of Directors.[2]

In 2002, Allen Jr. ceded control of the firm to his son Herbert Allen III.[7]

Philanthropy

In 1998, he donated $20 million to Williams College.[8]

Personal life

Allen has been married and divorced three times. His first wife was Laura Parrish;[7] they have four children: Herbert Allen III is married to Monica de la Torre, a public-interest lawyer and native of Puerto Rico;[7] Charles Allen works at Allen & Co. as an institutional salesman[7] and in 2005, married Kristin Wheat Fisher in a Methodist ceremony;[9] Leslie Allen; and Christie Allen.[7] His second wife was Broadway dancer Ann Reinking,[7] whom he married in 1982 and divorced in 1989. After 1989 he married and has since divorced Gail Holmes. He resides in Cody, Wyoming.[10]

References
  1. New York Times: "Herbert Allen Sr., 88, an Early Specialist in Corporate Takeovers" By LESLIE EATON January 23, 1997
  2. Forbes: "The World's Billionaires - #605 Herbert Allen Jr & family March 5, 2008
  3. New York Times: "Charles Allen Jr., 91, Founder Of Investment Company, Is Dead" By RICHARD D. LYONS July 17, 1994
  4. New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths ALLEN, HAROLD" August 28, 2002
  5. New Yorker Magazine: "THE CONSIGLIERE - There are big decisions yet to be made in the MCA-Seagram deal, and they may all involve Herbert Allen" BY KEN AULETTA MAY 22, 1995 |"Herbert spent a good part of his childhood in the leafy Westchester suburb of Irvington. His father's mother "was Jewish--we think," Allen says. His father became a nonpracticing Unitarian--an agnostic, that is. Herbert's mother was an Irish Catholic, and she had her daughter and her son baptized in the church, but, like his father, Herbert abhorred the structure and the discipline of formal religion. "It's like digging potatoes," he says. "You can do it one day and then you get the idea."
  6. New York Times: "27-Year-Old President Elected by Allen & Co." August 8, 1966
  7. Fortune: "Inside the Private World of Allen & Co. Putting a premium on personal ties, this family firm thrives in the land of the giants" By Carol J. Loomis June 28, 2004
  8. The Berkshire Eagle, June 15, 2007
  9. New York Times: "Kristin Fisher and Charles Allen" May 15, 2005
  10. "Inside the Private World of Allen & Co. Putting a premium on personal ties, this family firm thrives in the land of the giants. - June 28, 2004".
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