Henry Crown

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American industrialist and philanthropist (1896-1990)

title: "Henry Crown" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1896-births", "1990-deaths", "20th-century-american-businesspeople", "20th-century-american-jews", "20th-century-american-philanthropists", "20th-century-people-from-illinois", "american-businesspeople-in-the-metal-industry", "american-people-of-lithuanian-jewish-descent", "businesspeople-from-chicago", "crown-family", "jewish-american-military-personnel", "jews-from-illinois", "military-personnel-from-chicago", "philanthropists-from-illinois", "united-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii"] description: "American industrialist and philanthropist (1896-1990)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Crown" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American industrialist and philanthropist (1896-1990) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameHenry Crown
imageHenry Crown.jpeg
birth_date
birth_nameHenry Krinsky
birth_placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
death_date
death_placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
occupationBusinessman
known_forFounded the Material Service Corporation in 1919, and Henry Crown and Company in 1959
spouse{{plainlist
* {{MarriageRebecca Kranz
children3, including Lester Crown
::

| name = Henry Crown | image = Henry Crown.jpeg | alt = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_name = Henry Krinsky | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | occupation = Businessman | known_for = Founded the Material Service Corporation in 1919, and Henry Crown and Company in 1959 | spouse = {{plainlist|

| children = 3, including Lester Crown

Henry Crown (; June 13, 1896 – August 14, 1990) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Among other things, he founded the Material Service Corporation, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. At the time of his death, he was a billionaire. Henry Crown and Company, of which he is the namesake, is an investment firm that owns or has interests in a variety of business assets. From 1951 to 1961, he was the owner of the Empire State Building.

Early life and career

Crown (birth name: Henry Krinsky) was born in 1896 to Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. He was the third of seven children of a sweatshop worker, Arie Krinsky (1861–1937), and his wife Ida (1871–1956). His father changed the family name to Crown while Henry was a boy. Crown did not attend school past the eighth grade. In 1915, at the age of 19, he and his elder brother Sol founded S. R. Crown & Company, a steel broker.

Sol later died of tuberculosis, and in 1919, his brother Irving joined him.

In 1959, Crown gained a controlling interest in General Dynamics and merged the company with MSC, which had $100 million in sales. In 1960, Crown was named director of General Dynamics and then chairman of its executive committee, which lasted until 1966, when he was forced out by Roger Lewis through the redemption of Crown's controlling block of preferred stock. In 1970, Crown purchased sufficient stock to once again achieve a controlling interest in General Dynamics and quickly removed Roger Lewis, replacing him with David S. Lewis (no relation).

By 1976, the family owned shares in over 300 corporations, with an estimated value of $250 million.

Philanthropy

According to his own claim, Crown had given away "nine figures" in his philanthropic pursuits by the time he turned 79. His beneficiaries included the University of Chicago, Brandeis University, Stanford University, Northwestern University and the St. Lawrence University student investment fund. The Henry Crown Symphony Hall in Jerusalem is named after him.

Personal life

Crown was married twice. His first wife, Rebecca Kranz, died in 1943. His second wife was Gladys Kay. Crown had three children: Robert Crown (1921–1969), Lester Crown (born June 7, 1925) and John J. Crown (1929–1997), a Cook County judge.

Henry Crown died on August 14, 1990, at his home in Chicago.

Family corporation Henry Crown & Company

During Henry's life, his son Lester Crown was the chief operating officer and took over leadership of the conglomerate upon his death.

Lester's son James ("Jim") Crown took over leadership from his father. In 2025, Jim Crown's cousin William ("Bill") Crown - the son of John J. Crown - took over as president and chief executive officer following the death of Jim Crown in 2023.

As of 1976, the family was broadly considered to include the children of Henry Crown's parents Arie and Ida Crown, which consisted of 25 people as of 1976.

Henry Crown & Company contains multiple companies, including CC Industries which contains operating companies such as Gillig and Great Dane Trailers. The Crowns also own Aspen Skiing Company.

References

References

  1. "Henry Crown and Company Company Profile".
  2. (August 16, 1990). "Henry Crown; Once Owner of Empire State Building".
  3. (Jun 11, 2015). "Recognizing the 90th Birthday of Lester Crown". [[Congress.gov]].
  4. Charles D. Ellis. (2001). "Wall Street People: True Stories of Today's Masters and Moguls".
  5. Cook, Joan. (August 16, 1990). "Henry Crown, Industrialist, Dies; Billionaire, 94, Rose From Poverty". [[The New York Times]].
  6. Griffin, Richard T.. (1976-12-12). "Taking Account of Henry Crown". The New York Times.
  7. Alsop, Stewart. (July 17, 1965). "America's Big New Rich". The Saturday Evening Post.
  8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140528030956/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-09-14/news/9103090620_1_henry-crown-material-service-general-dynamics-corp Chicago Tribune: "Gladys K. Crown, 82, Philanthropist And Exec" By Kenan Heise] September 14, 1991
  9. [http://www.aspeninstitute.org/leadership-programs/henry-crown-fellowship-program/about-program/legacy-henry-crown Aspen Institute: "Legacy of Henry Crown"] retrieved August 26. 2013
  10. (2023-06-29). "Scoping out succession paths in the wake of Jim Crown's death".
  11. (2025-01-24). "Billionaire Crown dynasty revamps leadership after death".
  12. "CC Industries has acquired Gillig".
  13. "CC Industries Announces Acquisition of CIE".
  14. Writer, Scott Condon, Aspen Daily News Staff. (2023-06-27). "Aspen mourns loss of Crown".

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1896-births1990-deaths20th-century-american-businesspeople20th-century-american-jews20th-century-american-philanthropists20th-century-people-from-illinoisamerican-businesspeople-in-the-metal-industryamerican-people-of-lithuanian-jewish-descentbusinesspeople-from-chicagocrown-familyjewish-american-military-personneljews-from-illinoismilitary-personnel-from-chicagophilanthropists-from-illinoisunited-states-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii