Unless you’re a complete sadist, it’s never a good day to lose anyone, especially one that has made an impact doing things his way.
Such was the case with Lewis Katz (72) who was a self-made man that built his fortune in New York parking lots, billboards and cable TV.
He eventually bought the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, NHL’s New Jersey Devils and The Philadelphia Inquirer, by doing what he knew – doing it his way!
Katz died Saturday night in a Massachusetts crash that claimed six other lives in addition to his and his death was confirmed by his son, Drew, and his business partner Harold H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest.
Katz grew up in working-class Camden, New Jersey, and worked as a lawyer before earning hundreds of millions of dollars investing in the Kinney Parking empire and the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network in New York.
“You’ve got to make money in the world that we live in, in order to accomplish what your ultimate goal is. But along with making money, equally important is preserving, for the community, a community trust,” Katz testified at an April hearing on the Inquirer’s sale. “That’s what this paper represents.”
Numerous tributes poured in from several prominent figures in sports, media, politics, business and education, reflecting the wide range of his interests and charitable endeavours.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called him “a visionary” and the New York Yankees held a moment of silence before Sunday’s game.
Temple University recalled his recent advice to graduates to “have as much fun as you can conjure up.”
“He was a visionary businessman who touched the lives of so many with his tireless pursuit of innovation and enterprise, as well as his deep commitment to his family, friends and community,” Silver said in a statement.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a statement called Katz a man of “tremendous influence” and sent condolences to Katz’s family and “the many organizations that benefited from his philanthropy.”
Katz, in his April testimony, said he had lost money on both the Nets and Devils, but eventually made it big through the 2012 sale of the sports cable network.
“We lost our shirt in the Devils and the Nets,” he testified. “But for the YES network, I’d be back in my law office in Cherry Hill, waiting for the clients to come in again.”
He hoped to be a hands-off owner of the Inquirer, where his long-time companion, Nancy Phillips, was the city editor.
Katz had agreed to invest $16 million for a 26 per cent stake in the Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News in 2012 at the behest of former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who wanted to return the newspapers to local ownership after a bankruptcy that left them in the hands of New York hedge funds.
But a feud with rival investor George Norcross, an equally powerful business leader, over the direction of the news business forced him to be more a more active owner.
Katz filed suit last year to stop Norcross from firing Pulitzer Prize-winning editor Bill Marimow.
He eventually succeeded, then joined Lenfest in bidding $88 million to buy out Norcross and his allies at an auction Tuesday.
The sale had been set to close June 12, but will now be delayed for 30 days to give Katz’s family time to get the estate in order, Lenfest said.
Katz had recently given $25 million to Temple University for its medical school, and had previously given $15 million to another alma mater, Dickinson Law School, where he had graduated first in his class.
He also supported the Boys & Girls Clubs in Camden, along with many Jewish charities. Katz recently helped fund a charter school in impoverished Camden.
“There are so many organizations that he endowed, many anonymously,” Marimow said Sunday.
Marimow described Katz as a brilliant man and generous philanthropist who developed a love for journalism from a college stint working for the syndicated columnist Drew Pearson.
His wife, Marjorie passed away in December and he is survived by his Son, Daughter (Melissa) and several Grandchildren.
Katz was a classmate of Bill Cosby in Temple’s 1963 graduating class, had spoken at the school’s commencement last month, and received an honorary doctorate.
A true loss to the sporting world! RIP!!
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