Gerry Lenfest

Harold FitzGerald "Gerry" Lenfest (May 29, 1930–August 5, 2018) was an American lawyer, media executive, and philanthropist.

Lenfest, along with his wife Marguerite, were among the most prominent Philadelphia-based philanthropists in his last two decades, donating more than $1.3 billion to 1,100 groups, supporting various educational, artistic, journalistic, and healthcare causes.

Lenfest was born on May 29, 1930, in Jacksonville, Florida, then grew up in Scarsdale, New York, and Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

His father was a naval architect; his mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage when he was 13.

He had a twin sister, Marie Lenfest Schmitz.

He attended Flemington High School in New Jersey and (for one year) the George School in Newton, Pennsylvania, before graduating from Mercersburg Academy.

Lenfest went on to receive his B.A. in economics from Washington and Lee University in 1953.

Lenfest played on the Washington & Lee soccer team and was a member of Sigma Chi.

He attended Columbia Law School, graduating with an LL.B. in 1958.

He served in the Navy between college and law school.

He later served for 24 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of captain.

After graduating from Columbia Law School, Lenfest worked at the firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell before becoming, in 1965, associate counsel to Triangle Publications, Inc., the media company controlled by Walter Annenberg.

The company owned the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide, and Seventeen magazine, as well as various television stations, radio stations, and cable enterprises.

In 1970, he was named head of the Communications Division at Triangle.

He formed Lenfest Communications Inc. (LCI) in 1974; using funds from loans and two investors, the new privately held company purchased two cable systems with 7,600 customers from Annenberg.

Lenfest was chairman of the board of TelVue Corporation from 1989 to 2017.

Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest were among the most prominent Philadelphia-based philanthropists in his last two decades, donating more than $1.3 billion to 1,100 groups, supporting various educational, artistic, journalistic, and healthcare causes.

Based in Wilmington, Delaware, LCI grew and had become the largest cable operator in the Delaware Valley by the late 1990s, with a base of 1.2 million subscribers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Lenfest was also president of Suburban Cable TV Co. Inc., a subsidiary of LCI.

AT&T eventually acquired a one-half ownership interest in LCI.

In November 1999, Lenfest reached an agreement to sell the remaining half of LCI (including Suburban Cable) to AT&T; as part of a complex transaction, AT&T then immediately sold the Lenfest company to Comcast for $6.7 billion in stock and debt.

At the time of the sale, LCI was the ninth-largest cable television operator in the United States.

The transaction was completed in January 2000.

AT&T's sale of Lenfest Communications to Comcast helped AT&T gain regulatory approval for its purchase of MediaOne.

Lenfest and his wife received $1.2 billion from the sale of LCI.

Lenfest's wife Marguerite B. Lenfest, played an active role in the family's businesses.

Of the proceeds, Lenfest took $60 million, giving half to the company's managers and the other half to the company's other employees, citing their role in making LCI a success.

They began their philanthropy before 2000, but began making massive charitable contributions after the sale of LCI.

They pledged to donate their entire fortune to worthy causes.

The couple was critical of perpetual foundations, deciding to give away the bulk of their wealth during their lifetime, and to wind down their foundation no later than 30 years after their deaths.

They also opted not to establish a family foundations, believing in individual giving instead.

Gerry Lenfest cited agreement with Andrew Carnegie's idea that "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced."

The scale of the Lenfests' contributions in the Philadelphia region is rivaled only by the contributions of the Annenberg and Haas families.

Lenfest became friendly with Keith Leaphart, who cleaned Lenfest's office.

The two went on to become businesses associates and Leaphart became chair of the Lenfest Foundation.

By the time of his death, the Lenfests had contributed at least $155 million to Columbia University.

The university's president, Lee C. Bollinger, said in 2009 that the Lenfests were "the fourth-most-generous donors to Columbia" in the institution's history, giving more than $100 million up to that point.

In addition to his contributions to his alma mater, Columbia Law School, Lenfest also made contributions to Columbia's Earth Institute, Columbia Medical School, and arts and sciences programs.

In 2011, Lenfest pledged $30 million for construction of a multi-arts venue, the Lenfest Center for the Arts, at Columbia's Manhattanville campus; the Center, designed by Renzo Piano's architectural firm, opened in 2017.

The Lenfests also donated $109 million to Mercersburg Academy, $81 million to Washington and Lee University (Gerry's alma mater), $40 million to Wilson College (Marguerite's alma mater), $32 million to the Lenfest Scholars Program, $20.5 million to the Williamson College of the Trades, $13.9 million to Teach for America, $10.2 million to Mastery Charter Schools, $10 million to the Lenfest Prep School Scholarship Program, $8.5 million to Temple University, $7.7 million to the Lenfest College Scholarship Program, $7.6 million to Ursinus College, and $6.4 million to Drexel University.