Sheldon Solow

Sheldon Henry Solow (July 20, 1928 – November 17, 2020) was an American real estate developer and art collector who lived and worked in New York City.[2][3] As of August 2020, Solow had a net worth of $4.4 billion.[1]

Sheldon Solow
Born(1928-07-20)July 20, 1928
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 17, 2020(2020-11-17) (aged 92)
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
OccupationProperty developer
Net worthUS$4.4 billion (August 2020)[1]
Spouse(s)Mia Fonssagrives
Children2, including Stefan Soloviev
Websitewww.solowresidential.com

Early life

Solow was born and raised in a Jewish family[4][5] in Brooklyn.[2] His parents were Isaac, a bricklayer, and Jennie Brill, a homemaker.[1] Solow attended New York University to study engineering and architecture but dropped out in 1949.[6]

Career

Solow acquired his first property, a 72-family apartment building in Far Rockaway, in 1950 with a government-insured loan that his father arranged. He afterwards developed a shopping center as well as homes on Long Island. He established an office in Park Avenue in 1962 around the same time he was developing luxury apartments on Manhattan's Upper East Side.[6]

From 1965, Solow began acquiring property on 57th Street, intending to develop a high-rise residence. To avoid potential problems with holdout properties he acquired the sites secretly using a dummy company, registered in his sister's name. In all he purchased 14 buildings on 61,800 square feet (5,740 m2) at a cost of $12 million.[6]

In the 1970s, Solow obtained financing,[2] and in collaboration with architect Gordon Bunshaft, Solow built a 50-story office building at 9 West 57th Street.[7] One of its prominent features is a large red sculpture of the numeral "9" by Ivan Chermayeff on the sidewalk by the main entrance.[6] As of 2017, the building is still considered a desirable location because of its unobstructed views of Central Park.[7] Companies with offices there include KKR, Apollo Global Management, Tiger Global Management, Chanel, hedge funds, and private equity organisations.[6][8]  

From the early 2000s, Solow purchased land along the East River, including a 9 acres (3.6 ha) site near the United Nations headquarters that he purchased for $600 million in 2000. In 2016 he broke ground at this site, 685 First Avenue, to start work on a 42-story residential development designed by Richard Meier.[6] The project was completed in 2018.[9]

Solow was known for his legal actions. In 1975 he sued Avon Products, a tenant at 9 West 57th Street, for referring to the site as the "Avon Building". The case was dismissed but Solow launched further legal action against the company claiming they had failed to restore the building to its original condition at the end of their lease in 1997. The case was settled out of court with Avon paying Solow $6.2 million.[6] Solow sued Peter Kalikow, a friend, over a loan of $7 million that Solow had provided in the mid 1990s. Kalikow had paid back the loan early, depriving Solow of interest payments at 9%, which angered Solow. Solow claimed Kalikow had failed to disclose assets at the time the loan was agreed; the case was dismissed. In 2006 Solow sued Conseco, owner of the General Motors Building, alleging that the $1.4 billion sale of the property by auction had been rigged to exclude him. The case was dismissed in 2009.[6]

Solow had the largest individual loss from the Libor scandal in the U.S., estimated at $500 million. After taking out a loan from Citibank to purchase the Consolidated Edison parcels along the East River to develop a seven-building, $4 billion project, Solow put more than $450 million in high-grade municipal bonds as collateral. However, during the economic downturn of 2008, Citibank artificially inflated the Libor rates, which sank the value of Solow's bond portfolio. On a technicality, Solow defaulted on his loan, which allowed Citibank to seize and sell Solow's bonds and sue Solow for the value gap of $100 million, a case Citibank won. In 2012, Solow attempted to sue Citi on the basis of securities fraud, but the case was dismissed. In 2013, Solow sued again, this time over Libor.[10] As of April 2019, the New York Federal Judge ruled in favor of Citibank, and the Libor lawsuit will not be revived.[11]

Personal life and art collection

Solow was married to sculptor and jewelry designer Mia Fonssagrives-Solow,[12] the daughter of Lisa Fonssagrives, a Swedish model and the French photographer, Fernand Fonssagrives.[13][14] They had two children together and lived in New York City.[1] His son, Stefan Soloviev, now runs Solow Building Co.[8] Stefan also runs an agriculture conglomerate called Crossroads Agriculture based in Colorado and New Mexico. He is ranked the 54th largest landowner in the United States.[1]

Solow was an extensive collector of modernist and renaissance art. Solow owned Young Man holding a Medallion by Botticelli as well as paintings by Balthus, Henri Matisse, and Franz Kline; and sculptures by Alberto Giacometti.[2] In February 2012, he sold a Francis Bacon painting for $33.5 million, a Joan Miró painting for $26.6 million, a Henry Moore sculpture for $30.1 million; and in February 2013, he sold an Amedeo Modigliani painting for $42.1 million.[2] In May 2015 Solow sold Giacometti's 1947 sculpture L'homme au doigt for $126.1 million, setting a world record for the most expensive sculpture ever sold.[15] Though Solow derived significant tax benefit from the collection's 501(c)3 non-profit status, he provided no public access.[16][17] In 2018, Solow arranged for his son to lead the Solow Art and Architecture Foundation, effectively passing control of the collection from Sheldon to Stefan without any estate tax.[17][16]

Solow died from lymphoma at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan on November 17, 2020, at the age of 92.[6]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Sheldon Solow". Forbes. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  2. Jewish Business News: "Time Waits For No Man : Not Even Sheldon Solow" by Clive Minchom August 23, 2013
  3. New York Times: "Empire Built by Developer Shows Signs of Distress" by Charles V. Bagli March 31, 2010
  4. Forbes Israel: Jewish Billionaires – Profile of Sheldon Solow April 4, 2013 (in Hebrew)
  5. The Real Deal: "New York City real estate bigwigs rank among world’s richest Jewish people" November 11, 2013
  6. Kazakina, Katya; Clark, Patrick; Oster, Patrick (November 17, 2020). "Sheldon Solow, Billionaire Real Estate Developer, Dies at 92". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  7. Bagli, Charles V. (August 19, 2013). "Prime Lot, Empty for Years (Yes, This Is Manhattan)". The New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  8. "Sheldon Solow". Forbes. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  9. "685 First Ave. in Murray Hill". streeteasy.com.
  10. Carlyle, Erin. "Why Billionaire Sheldon Solow's $450 Million Libor Case Is Likely To Be Followed By More". Forbes. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  11. "2nd Circ. Won't Revive Real Estate Mogul's $100M Libor Suit – Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  12. New York Times: "BOLDFACE NAMES" By James Barron October 10, 2001
  13. Mia Fonssagrives Solow website retrieved February 25, 2015
  14. New York Times: "Vicky Tiel’s 40-Year Career in Fashion" By CHRISTOPHER PETKANAS August 19, 2011
  15. Katya Kazakina (April 26, 2016). "Deal of the Art: Why Auction Houses Are Giving Away Millions". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  16. Rubin, Erin (April 25, 2018). "A Nonprofit Museum with No Public Access: A Showy Extravagance with a Tax Exemption". Non Profit Quarterly. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  17. Anuta, Joe (April 23, 2018). "Developer's museum off-limits to the public". Retrieved April 23, 2018.
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