Jeffrey Alfred Legum

Jeffrey Alfred Legum (born 1941) is an American philanthropist, investor and former automobile dealer.

Jeffrey Alfred Legum

Legum has been successful as an auto dealer,[1][2] and as an investor. His investment advice helped build the endowments of both the Park School and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Early life and education

He was born in Baltimore in 1941. His father, Leslie Legum, was a developer of large industrial parks,[1][3] and his mother, Naomi Legum, was the daughter of ice cream manufacturer, L. M. Hendler. Legum attended the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in economics.[4]

Park Circle Motor Company

Upon graduation from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business with a B.S. degree in economics in 1963, Legum joined Park Circle Motor Company, which was founded in 1921 by Legum's grandfather.[5][6][7] By 1986, he had grown the dealership to the third largest in the country.[8] Legum's Westminster Motors provided limousines for the 1981 presidential inauguration.[9]

In 1989, Legum sold his Chevrolet-Nissan dealership, retaining Westminster Chevrolet Cadillac, a dealership he had acquired in 1973. He sold Westminster in 1997, ending his involvement in the automobile business.[6][10]

Investment management and The Park Circle Company

Legum owns and is CEO of The Park Circle Company, DBA Park Circle Investments, a private investment company with interest in Baltimore-related corporations. In 1962, Park Circle Motor Company sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Truck Rental Company of Baltimore, to Avis in return for cash and 10% interest in Avis. In 1966, Park Circle and Lazard Freres sold Avis to ITT Corporation for stock in ITT. This cash and stock became the basis for Park Circle's original stock portfolio, which was managed by Legum.[11] Legum's economic views have been quoted in Barron's.[12]

Personal life

In 1968, Legum married the former Harriet Cohn.[13]

Philanthropy

He has been an active supporter of the Park School of Baltimore,[14] the Baltimore Museum of Art,[15] and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,[16][17][18][19] where he endowed The Jeffrey and Harriet Legum Professorship in Acute Neurological Medicine and The John W. Griffin, MD Professorship in Neurology.[20]

Legum served on the board of directors of the Preakness Celebration, Inc. in 1988 and 1989 and was the vice-president in 1989.

In 2001, Jeffrey and Harriet Legum donated $1.5 million to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to create a professorship in acute neurological medicine.

In 2003, Legum and his wife donated $3 million to Johns Hopkins to help fund construction of a building which would house both clinical and basic research.

In 2021, Legum gave $110,000 to allow the Baltimore Museum of Art to keep their promise to increase the minimum wage for employees from $13.50 per hour to $15 per hour.[21] Legum also gave money to the Kennedy Center to support the construction of the second building, The REACH. [22]

In 2023 he gave $250,000 to Heartly House.

References
  1. "Legum Chevrolet-Nissan, said to be Maryland's largest car dealership, was sold by Jeffrey A. Legum for $11.5 million to rival Robert L. Bell, who owns Ford, Mitsubishi and Suzuki dealerships in Glen Burnie". The Washington Post. August 10, 1989. p. B1.
  2. Edward Lapham (1986). "Sales Giants". Automotive News.
  3. "Legum dealership bought for $11.5 million". The Sun. August 9, 1989. p. C1.
  4. "Success is Plain Dumb Luck – Car Dealer Jeff Legum". Carroll County Times. November 25, 1979. p. A3.
  5. "Park Circle Rounds out 50 years". GMAC News and Views. General Motors Acceptance Corporation. May–June 1971.
  6. Hancock, Jay (November 18, 1997). "Carroll dealer changes hands Len Stoler adds Westminster Motor to broad lineup". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  7. "Jeffrey Alfred Legum". The Evening Sun. 1971-03-23. p. 30. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  8. Edward Lapham (1986). "Sales Giants". Automotive News.
  9. "It's got to be the most expensive inaugural souvenir..." UPI. February 6, 1981.
  10. The Sun. November 18, 1997. p. 1. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. "Truck Rental Co. Acquired by Avis". Wall Street Journal. May 9, 1962. p. 2. Avis Inc., the world's second largest auto rental firm, has entered into an agreement to acquire Truck Rental Co., Inc. Washington and Baltimore vehicle lessor, it was announced last night. Robert C. Townsend, president of Avis, said the agreement calls for the acquisition of all of the Truck Rental stocked owned by Park Circle Motor Co., Baltimore auto dealer. The price was not disclosed.
  12. A friend of ours, Jeff Legum, who sells cars in Maryland, points out that there may be another reason for the severe drop in retail sales, the worst monthly decline since '78. Jeff points to the widely publicized computer snafu which, so the story goes, has caused the IRS to be delinquent in mailing out tax refunds. In the past years when those checks were in the mailbox instead of in the mail, people, Jeff says would come in to check out cars in early March and use their tax refunds as down payments. Not so, this year. Thanks to the delay by the IRS, with possible braking effects on overall retail sales. Barron's Up and Down Wall Street by Alan Abelson, April 15, 1985
  13. The Baltimore Sun. November 24, 1968. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. The Sun. February 5, 1989. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. Sylvia Badger (October 12, 1997). "Grand affair for 'Grand Design' at Baltimore Museum of Art". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  16. "Jeffrey and Harriet Legum Professorship in Acute Neurological Medicine". Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  17. "The Johns Hopkins U. (Baltimore): $3-million from Jeffrey A. Legum a trustee of Johns Hopkins Medicine, and his wife, Harriet, for capital projects to support medical research". Chronicle of Philanthropy. November 11, 2004.
  18. "Gifts and Bequests". Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  19. "Breast Cancer Research Chair in Oncology". Johns Hopkins. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  20. Hanley, Daniel. "BIOS" (PDF). Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  21. Liscia, Valentina Di (25 February 2021). "After Canceling Controversial Deaccessioning, Baltimore Museum Receives Over $1M for Equity Initiatives". Hyperallergic.
  22. "Supporters | Kennedy Center".

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