jerry speyer
leaders interview with jerry i. speyer, chairman and co - chief executive officer, tishman speyer
an interview with jerry i. speyer, chairman and co - chief executive officer, tishman speyer
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real estate baron jerry speyer developed landmarks like rockefeller center and the chrysler building in manhattan .
click here to download a pdf of an interview with jerry i. speyer, chairman and co - chief executive officer, tishman speyer
henry kravis is a founding partner of the leveraged buyout firm kohlberg kravis roberts; jerry speyer is president and ceo of tishman speyer properties .
jerry is the chairman of tishman speyer and his son rob is ceo. until 2015, they held co - ceo titles .
the president: he didn’t have to say his name. he was ready to say his name — we know. jerry speyer, everybody .
the mansion will be the home of jerry i. speyer, president of tishman speyer properties and past chairman of the real estate board of new york. mr. speyer declined to talk about the mansion' s design - - or anything else .
paul tishman (uncle) john l. tishman (cousin) jerry speyer (son - in - law) alan v. tishman (brother )
my friendship with our college roommate, jerry speyer, has also been central to my life —and especially deep. jerry was there for me during my campaign to recover my life without eyesight. that campaign continues, and jerry is still with me, as he has always been — to this very moment. in 2008, jerry delivered a commencement address at columbia' s business school talking about a critical and memorable moment for the three of us after i returned to columbia, newly blinded .
he hired her at tishman speyer in 1984. they became romantically involved years later, after speyer split from his first wife, lynne, in 1987. speyer and farley married in 1991 .
every few years the new york cultural world produces a power couple of the moment. by any measure this particular moment belongs to jerry i. speyer and katherine g. farley .
ms. farley went to mr. speyer, and mr. speyer found the tenant other quarters for the run of the performance .
i congratulate jerry speyer on his new leadership position ,
responded mr. menschel .
jerry is an outstanding example of a highly intelligent, extremely successful individual who uses his significant abilities to give back. more importantly, jerry is steadfastly committed to the museum' s mission. he is an enthusiastic collector of contemporary and modern art, and will continue to share his special knowledge and enthusiasm with moma as it moves forward .
he said no, in part because mr. speyer and ms. farley, a senior managing director at tishman speyer, so often say yes .
katherine farley, just named chairwoman of lincoln center, is the wife of jerry speyer, chairman of moma. how much philanthropy can one couple handle—even with a net worth of $ 1. 5 billion ?
because there were no models for the type of institution we envisioned, we had to build one. henry kravis, chairman of the board, jerry speyer, vice president, the new york city investment fund 2 .
jerry speyer the lifeblood, the heart, of the fund is its network of investors, board members, and volunteers, including their connections. let’s see how it works at a june 12, 2001 reception in midtown manhattan .
mr. speyer is chairman of tishman speyer. he is one of the two founding partners of the company, formed in 1978. he remains involved in the company enterprise .
mr. speyer formed tishman speyer properties in 1978. from 1966 to 1978, he served as senior vice president and director of tishman realty & construction co. , inc. mr. speyer began his career in 1964 as assistant to the vice president of madison square garden .
what a tuesday for jerry speyer! first, his firm partners with lehman brothers to buy apartment behemoth archstone - smith in a historic deal worth $ 22. 2 billion. then, the board of trustees of the museum of modern art elects him its chairman. effective july 1, mr. speyer will take over from outgoing chairman robert menschel .
speyer is chairman of the museum of modern art and vice chairman of new york presbyterian hospital .
new york – the board of governors of the federal reserve system designated jerry i. speyer chairman of the board of directors of the federal reserve bank of new york for 2007. he was also reappointed a class c director for this period. mr. speyer, who is president and chief executive officer of tishman speyer, has served as a class c director and deputy chairman since january 2004. he joined the board as a class b director in 2001 .
the couple met at tishman speyer, where ms. farley was hired in 1984. they began dating in 1988, a year after the divorce of mr. speyer and lynne tishman, whose great - grandfather julius tishman founded the realty and construction company that became tishman speyer. mr. speyer and ms. farley were married in 1991. they have a daughter; he has three children from his previous marriage .
( fortune magazine) - - social humiliation loomed. it was just moments before the dinner was to begin, and a senior executive at real estate firm tishman speyer realized that he had no idea which titles to use to properly introduce his guests, a group of american diplomats. flummoxed, he called carole karpel, executive assistant to jerry speyer, tishman' s chairman and co - ceo .
when power brokers like donald trump and george steinbrenner met on a panel that developed plans to build a domed stadium in new york, the real estate developer jerry i. speyer was all but overshadowed. but he was quietly building his own empire. although the stadium plan ultimately failed, mr. speyer made the most of the effort: he bought the midtown tower where the panel held its meetings .
sanford greenberg, a washington businessman who roomed with mr. speyer at columbia, recalls :
jerry always had a sense of perspective. he had visions, goals and he lacked cynicism .
the two had a third roommate, the musician art garfunkel, and all three remain close today .
jerry speyer, president & ceo of tishman speyer properties, has been as a member of the moma board of trustees since 1982. he becomes chairman after serving as vice chairman since 1996. he was integral to the new building project and instrumental in the museum’s sale of the west end properties. in addition to acting as a member of the executive committee and chairing the fund for the 21 st century and the development committee, mr. speyer has been a member of the nominating committee, finance committee, ad hoc committee on government relations, committee on painting and sculpture, new building committee, and library council. mr. speyer has been listed since 2004 in
gov. george e. pataki last month asked mr. speyer, the president and chief executive of tishman speyer properties, to raise $ 600 million for a memorial, museum and performing arts center at the world trade center site .
the exhibition is made possible by the andy warhol foundation for the visual arts, the horace w. goldsmith foundation, moma’s wallis annenberg fund for innovation in contemporary art through the annenberg foundation, the julia stoschek foundation, jerry i. speyer and katherine g. farley, the jacques and natasha gelman trust, and the moma ps1 board of directors .
“the board of trustees looks forward with great anticipation to working under the leadership of jerry speyer, ” ms. kravis said. “jerry has long been a committed, trusted, and valuable member of moma’s board, and we fully appreciate the additional commitment he exhibits in taking on this new role. at the same time, we honor bob menschel, who has been an exemplary chairman. we are extremely pleased that bob remains with us as chairman emeritus and look forward to many more years of working closely with him. we also welcome leon black as a vice chairman. ”
speyer and his wife, katherine, were ranked one among the
top 200 art collectors
by artnews from 2012 to 2015 .
real estate sources, who were skittish about discussing anything about the project or their dealings with mr. speyer, say mr. speyer had spent at least three years looking at a number of large co - op and condominium apartments as well as several wide townhouses .
jerry speyer is one of the two founding partners of tishman speyer. he is also chairman of the museum of modern art and vice chair of new york - presbyterian hospital. he is the former chairman of the board of directors of the federal reserve bank of new york; chairman emeritus of columbia university; chairman emeritus of the real estate board of new york; chair emeritus of the partnership for new york city; and past president of the board of trustees of the dalton school. speyer’s other board affiliations include yankee global enterprises, the economic club of new york, and the asia society. he is a member of the council on foreign relations and the business roundtable. speyer graduated from columbia college in 1962 and columbia university graduate school of business in 1964
tishman speyer has developed over 152 million square feet, including skyscrapers in new york, chicago, berlin, london, frankfurt and paris .
that is not to say that mr. speyer and ms. farley hesitate to deploy their connections and expertise on behalf of their cultural interests .
glenn d. lowry, moma director, commented :
the museum of modern art’s trustees are among the most dedicated in the world, and we have been fortunate to have had so many remarkable chairmen guide the museum, including, most recently, bob menschel who has done an outstanding job in overseeing the museum’s transition into its new space. jerry speyer continues this tradition with his love of contemporary art and his understanding of the museum gained over 25 years as trustee. as one of new york city’s foremost civic leaders, jerry brings an extraordinary range of talent to the job and we all look forward to working with him in the coming years. ”
some people say that mr. speyer comes closest to being his generation' s david rockefeller. the two men have been friends since 1982, when mr. speyer joined the board of the modern, where mr. rockefeller is chairman. they are now partners in the ownership of rockefeller center .
sanford d. greenberg: i could tell you that i lost my eyesight while pitching in a baseball game. or when boarding a subway car. or while speaking on behalf of the presidential campaign of the young john kennedy. or while eating pizza with my roommates, art garfunkel and jerry speyer. or during a final exam. i could say any of that. yet none of that would matter .
'' speyer called me up and said,' if we guarantee you $ 5. 5 million, will you give us an exclusive for 60 days?''' mr. bernhard recalled.'' he did, and he now manages the building. another bidder was very irritated with me. but jerry took an aggressive point of view, and nobody else came forward with anything like that.''
tishman speyer is committed to fostering a workplace that respects and values diversity, for we know that our long - term growth and impact depend on it .
speyer started the firm with his late father - in - law, robert tishman, in 1978. the marriage ended in divorce, but the company survived .
the most exclusive of these clubs was clearly the modern, which speyer was invited to join in 1982. the rockefellers had been co - founders of the museum, and david rockefeller remained a major force in its affairs when speyer joined. the board had always been open to jews, but not to real - estate men. speyer was, however, the right kind of real - estate man. and he was eager to be of service. soon after speyer joined the board, rockefeller recalls,'' he asked if we could have lunch, and he made it clear that he wanted to be in the inner circle of the museum.'' rockefeller, of course, had been born into the inner circle; speyer was willing to make the effort needed to get there .
today tishman speyer owns or manages 25 million square feet of office space on three continents, a portfolio that in manhattan includes rockefeller center, the chrysler building and the lipstick building. after selling heavily in the last two years, mr. speyer became a buyer early this year, adding $ 1 billion in properties .
and mr. speyer has begun building an upper east side home at a cost of about $ 10 million, one of the few mansions built in decades in new york city. it is an uncharacteristic case of conspicuous consumption, given his low - key reputation .
with jerry, there' s not a long limo and there are no fancy parties ,
said steve spinola, chairman of the real estate board of new york .
while many of nyc’s billionaires made their fortunes in finance and media, 11 of them built — or inherited — real estate empires, including stephen ross, richard lefrak, donald trump, jerry speyer, leonard stern, sheldon solow, john catsimatidis, jeff sutton, mortimer zuckerman, david walentas, alexander rovt and leon charney (who died last month). while their commercial holdings are well documented, their personal residences are less so .
all the circles of mr. speyer' s life connected in 1997, when he was one of the finalists in the hotly contested bidding for the chrysler building .
over a series of interviews, mr. speyer is charming, yet guarded. when he is prodded to talk about himself, he smiles, but speaks through clenched teeth .
it' s not in either my personal or business interest to be a highly visible person ,
he explained. he seems to long to be thought of as a regular guy .
i eat tuna fish everyday for lunch ,
he said .
that' s all i ever have .
( it' s true. but it' s often of the $ 30 variety at the four seasons .) his late father, a shoe manufacturer who fled nazi germany and immigrated to the united states, moved his family from milwaukee to new york city when jerry was 3 months old. so successful was the elder mr. speyer at investing the profits from his businesses, he never worked a day after the age of 52 .
he was a great trader ,
jerry speyer said, shaking his head and grinning in awe of his father' s achievements .
—in elections held yesterday by the board of trustees of the museum of modern art, jerry i. speyer was elected as chairman, succeeding robert b. menschel. leon black was elected a vice chairman, joining sid r. bass, kathleen fuld, and mimi haas in that capacity. donald b. marron becomes president emeritus. marie - josée kravis, elected president in june 2005, remains in office. the elections are effective july 1, 2007 .
mr. speyer: mr. president, you’re doing a great job, and we’re all really grateful to you for the sacrifices you’re making. hope you heard that .
but few think of jerry speyer as cheap or tasteless. he has spent more than 30 years and millions of dollars satisfying his penchant for contemporary art. the reception areas of many of his buildings are filled with the work of his favorites, like frank stella, julian schnabel and eric fischl. he is a board member of the museum of modern art and the hirshhorn museum. his new mansion, people familiar with the plans say, is being designed around his art collection .
four years ago, mr. speyer married katherine g. farley, whom he hired in 1984 to oversee international development at the company. the couple have a 3 - year - old daughter, laura. one of mr. speyer' s three adult children, valerie, works at tishman speyer. his son, robert, is a reporter at the daily news. (the developer says he gives no news tips to his son .) a younger daughter, holly, works in production for the television show
central park west .
in conversation, speyer often told me how he preferred to'' fly beneath the radar.'' and yet he agreed not only to talk to me but also to let me watch as he met with his own executives, other developers, major tenants and officials at the modern. he even tried to get me into a private meeting at gracie mansion. when i asked, speyer couldn' t say why he had so opened himself up for scrutiny. perhaps he is something of a mystery even to himself. burt lehman, a corporate lawyer and a friend of speyer' s since college, observes that'' jerry loves the image of being a very important man in new york without necessarily cultivating that the way a donald trump does.'' there is a kind of exalted standing that comes of not being seen to seek any standing at all .
tennery, amy .
tishman speyer co - founder robert tishman dies at 94
, the real deal (magazine), october 12, 2010. accessed october 13, 2010 .
the tishman speyer co - founder spent an estimated $ 10 million to build this 7, 900 - square - foot limestone mansion. speyer reportedly paid $ 3 million in 1997 for adjoining victorian brownstones at 174 and 176 east 72nd, which he later demolished to make way for the three - story house, which includes five fireplaces, a basement swimming pool and two gardens .
mr. speyer, meanwhile, has positioned himself above the rough and tumble of the real estate world, a role that has at times put him at odds with his real estate brethren .
while the real estate board of new york actively opposed mayor michael r. bloomberg' s property tax increase last year, for example, mr. speyer and the partnership for new york city supported it. today mr. speyer and the partnership favor mr. bloomberg' s plan to give middle - class homeowners a $ 400 tax rebate, while the real estate board opposes it .
you can learn a good deal about jerry speyer from watching him eat. one morning in september, i joined him for breakfast at the carlyle hotel, where he had agreed to meet with p. c. chatterjee, who runs a global - investment company. speyer occupied the restaurant' s seat of honor, on a flowered circular banquette beneath a magnificent urn brimming with white lilies and pear leaves. he and chatterjee exchanged global - economy chitchat - - the millennium bug, the euro conversion, the'' software gap.'' speyer ordered one of those bizarre breakfasts consumed almost only by powerful middle - aged men: an egg - white omelet, very well done, with seven - grain toast. as chatterjee tried unsuccessfully to interest him in a real - estate joint venture - - too small, too much risk for the profit - - speyer lapsed into one of his disconcerting silences. he began to consume his meal with comical fastidiousness, cutting the omelet into identical rectangles and pushing each one in turn against the edge of his toast until it rested on the center of his fork. it was a performance that seem designed either to rein in a large appetite or to impose a kind of transcendent tidiness on the act of eating. not coincidentally, speyer' s princely demeanor had the effect of unsettling chatterjee .
mr. speyer is chairman of tishman speyer. he is one of the two founding partners of the company, which was formed in 1978. mr. speyer is chairman of the museum of modern art. he is vice chair of new york presbyterian hospital. he is the former chairman of the board of directors, the federal reserve bank of new york; chairman emeritus of columbia university; chairman emeritus of the real estate board of new york; chair emeritus partnership for new york city; and past president of the board of trustees of the dalton school. mr. speyer’s other board affiliations include yankee global enterprises, the economic club of new york, the municipal art society of new york, columbia business school board of overseers, the asia society and national september 11 memorial & museum. he is a member of the council on foreign relations and the business roundtable. mr. speyer graduated from columbia college and received an m. b. a. from columbia university graduate school of business .
'' jerry draws the hardest line i' ve ever seen between his business interests and his philanthropic interests,'' she said. he refused, for example, to help the partnership lobby governor pataki on behalf of a proposal by goldman sachs to build a new headquarters in lower manhattan, because he was involved in goldman' s project .
what mr. trump was to the flamboyant 80' s, mr. speyer is becoming to the more reserved 90' s. instead of being a celebrated master of the real estate universe, mr. speyer is more like the forrest gump of new york developers, landing in the right place at the right time and remaining unscathed as he ambles his way to the top of an industry littered with carcasses .
speyer always met me in the conference room rather than in his adjoining office. one morning, i persuaded speyer' s longtime assistant, carol karpel, to let me see the office. speyer' s desk was littered with toy trucks and taxis and all sorts of bric - a - brac. there was a relaxed and cluttered feel to the place that was almost the reverse of the austerely tasteful decor of the conference room - - the cozy private space of a man who arranges his public space with great care. speyer came in and quickly led me back outside. about half an hour later, while we were talking about something else, he blurted out:'' i was really shocked when i walked into the room and you were there in my office. i never meet people outside the company in my office.''
ms. farley and mr. speyer were on opposite sides of the table. they are close friends of sanford i. weill, the chairman of carnegie hall and of citigroup, and his wife, joan. mr. speyer is on carnegie hall' s board with mr. weill, and the two men and their companies have done business together. ms. farley is on the ailey board with ms. weill .
speyer and his first wife separated in 1987. that should have marked the end of tishman speyer, but the business relationship was, by all accounts, undisturbed.'' it was about the most decent divorce i' ve ever heard of,'' bob tishman says.'' there was no reason in the world to destroy what we built up over 20 - something years.'' in fact, tishman still has an emeritus role at the firm. speyer, meanwhile, married katherine in 1991. in addition to three children from his first marriage, he has a 6 - year - old daughter from his second .
at tishman speyer, we cultivate a merit - based workplace where we reward our employees based on their ability to produce results. we also promote from within whenever possible, knowing that our future leaders emerge as their skills and experiences multiply. tishman speyer’s compensation structure is competitive within the industry and includes base salary, bonuses and long - term incentives—components that are all designed to reinforce and reward our global performance and culture of teamwork .
using a combination of social connections and aggressive bargaining, mr. speyer outmaneuvered the other bidders with a phone call to the chairman of cooper union, robert a. bernhard. mr. bernhard, a friend of the tishman family, said he and mr. speyer had known each other for years. they were both members of the century country club in purchase, n. y. , and shared an interest in the arts .
tishman speyer strives to give our employees exciting challenges that not only broaden their skill sets, but enhance career satisfaction. many of our executives have moved into different parts of the company and to offices around the world .
of course, there are financial advantages to owning a mansion rather than just renting one, although mr. speyer might have trouble getting his $ 10 million back if he decides, someday, that he wants something cozier .
'' clearly he has a wealth of contacts and experience that is invaluable when you' re doing a big building project,'' said glenn d. lowry, the museum' s director.'' the museum of modern art has no clout in the construction world, has no connection to city planners. having someone like jerry on the board makes all the difference.''
kind of interests, passion and hobbies: art description: speyer has a collection of artwork displayed at his various properties. it includes artwork by his favorite artists, jeff koons and frank stella. especially interested in contemporary art .
the partnership between the two men has endured, even outlasting the speyers' s marriage, which ended after 24 years and three children. although he said he still has a good relationship with his ex - wife, mr. speyer refused to talk about their life together. lynne tishman speyer, a social worker who lives in a contemporary upper east side town house the couple built in the 80' s, did not respond to messages seeking comment .
but mr. halstead said that getting his money back is probably
a distant second in consideration .
he said mr. speyer does not care about the cost of the house ,
and he probably shouldn' t .
kathryn s. wylde, president of the partnership for new york city, a civic - business organization founded in the 1970' s by david rockefeller, said that mr. speyer was scrupulous about separating the various facets of his life .
when the museum of modern art wanted to buy the dorset hotel on 53rd street as part of its expansion, mr. speyer used his relationship with the owners to persuade them to sell the building for $ 50 million rather than $ 75 million .
mr. speyer: i think from new york’s point of view we send a lot of money into the economy. as a number of people have said, it’s over a trillion dollars. we’re worried we’re going to have a problem with congress .
but she praised mr. speyer for not building as high as he might have. zoning regulations would have allowed him to go up at least 12 stories, and instead of building 7, 900 square feet he could have built 34, 055, according to the city building applications. mrs. millard said she has not seen a design for what is to be built, but said that if mr. speyer
does something modern with taste, we can' t be against it .
taste, like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder, but mr. speyer could make a legitimate claim to having it. he is a member of the board of the museum of modern art and a collector of abstract art .
in recent years, mr. speyer has triumphed in his timing of the real estate market. as prices tumbled during the late 80' s, he scaled back domestic operations, refinanced debt, and went into europe, where most other developers feared that smaller markets would mean weak demand. however, tishman speyer' s success with major projects in frankfurt and berlin burnished his professional reputation and positioned him to resurge in the united states and pursue distressed properties like rockefeller center and the world financial center .
as the fund’s network has expanded and developed, it is little wonder that henry kravis and jerry speyer emphasize that the network of business leaders and industry experts, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists is the fund’s “real success - and its legacy to the city. ” 10. of course, the extraordinary capacity of this network has to be put to use - and figuring out how to do this involves making investments that generate benefits for a place - for new york city - not just for a business. this means learning to invest in ways that create social outcomes - job generation, neighborhood redevelopment, environmental improvement, and essential, missing services provisions - not just financial outcomes captured by business .
and because amec construction management, the company responsible for the museum' s $ 858 million renovation, recently said that it would go out of business in two to three years, mr. speyer' s team has enhanced its oversight of the project .
jerry, i think, has been very good at predicting where the market is ,
said mr. spinola of the real estate board .
he' s very shrewd and smart in understanding the true value of projects. so i think his looking at some of these deals in new york is an indication that those properties have significant untapped value and this may be the time to step in and take advantage of that value .
mr. speyer' s other board affiliations include yankee global enterprises, columbia business school board of overseers, the national september 11 memorial & museum, the national committee on united states - china relations and the kennedy center corporate fund board. he is a trustee of the stã¤del museum in frankfurt and a member of the council on foreign relations, the business roundtable and the american academy of arts and sciences. mr. speyer holds a ba from columbia college and an mba from columbia university graduate school of business .
president of the speyer family foundation. in 2013, the foundation had assets exceeding $ 900, 000 and donated more than $ 5 million; gives primarily to arts and culture, civil and human rights, education, health, social and human services, and jewish organizations. recipients include: museum of modern art, newyork - presbyterian fund, lincoln center for the performing arts, the dalton school and central synagogue. speyer has had a major presence on some of the most significant nonprofit boards in new york .
in major markets across the globe, tishman speyer’s portfolio of landmark properties is second to none. but it’s our people who enable our success. regardless of title or job description, our employees use their drive, intelligence and creativity to achieve excellence every day .
among his many professional and civic associations, mr. speyer is vice chairman of the museum of modern art, the rand corporation and the new york presbyterian hospital, and his board affiliations include yankeenets and the new york presbyterian foundation, inc. he is also a member of the council on foreign relations. mr. speyer has been chairman of the new york city partnership, columbia university and the real estate board of new york, and has also served as president of the board of trustees of the dalton school .
it was in this family - - about as blue - blooded as they come in the real estate business - - that mr. speyer discovered the value of quiet observation and letting results do the talking .
one of the greatest listeners i know is bob tishman ,
mr. speyer said .
that has probably had the greatest impact on my life than any other thing .
in an interview, robert tishman, who at age 79 is no longer involved in the company' s day - to - day activity, called mr. speyer
a very smart man
who has
stayed out of the public eye for the same reason that i did when i ran the company. i don' t believe that this sort of company should be personalized .
several friends of speyer' s suggested that he looked to rockefeller as a kind of exemplar - - a distant, glittering polestar of quiet power and public regard. when i asked speyer what he thought of rockefeller, he fell to musing, and finally said, in his softest and most silken tones,'' he' s one of the most thoughtful people i' ve ever met in my life.'' he thought some more.'' and modest,'' he added,'' extraordinarily modest.'' one can imagine speyer wanting to have those very words carved on his tombstone. i asked if his friendship with rockefeller included a feeling of emulation. now there was a very, very long pause. at last, looking somewhere over my shoulder, halting to reflect every few words, speyer said:'' i would say that david is probably an absolutely unique person in this century. it would be pretty presumptuous for me to think of him as a role model. it would be absurd.''
speyer graduated from columbia university in 1964 and started his career in the same year as an assistant to the vice president of madison square garden. later worked for a company that built middle - income housing in new york. in 1966, he joined his father - in - law robert tishman' s company tishman realty & construction, where he served as senior vice president. in 1978, he and robert tishman liquidated tishman realty & construction and founded tishman speyer properties, a real estate company, which is presently known as ...
over the past several months, i spent a good deal of time sitting at speyer' s conference table while he considered deals and met with industry figures. the table itself was a beautiful slab of blond, burled wood with slender drawers for yellow pads and pencils and a little square of black marble in the center where an extra pair of speyer' s glasses always rested. a maid in a light blue uniform with an apron would come in with a glass of cold water or diet coke on a silver tray. it was all quite immaculate .
but there is no sign that the abandonment of the merger eroded the couple' s standing, a tribute to mr. speyer and ms. farley' s tireless work for various groups and perhaps to the healing power of money, which in their case comes from real estate .
sarah arison sid r. bass lawrence b. benenson leon d. black david booth clarissa alcock bronfman patricia phelps de cisneros steven cohen edith cooper paula crown david dechman anne dias griffin glenn dubin joel s. ehrenkranz john elkann laurence fink glenn fuhrman kathleen fuld howard gardner agnes gund mimi haas marlene hess ronnie heyman ac hudgins barbara jakobson werner h. kramarsky jill kraus marie - josée kravis ronald s. lauder michael lynne donald b. marron robert b. menschel khalil gibran muhammad philip s. niarchos james g. niven peter norton daniel s. och maja oeri michael s. ovitz emily rauh pulitzer sharon percy rockefeller richard e. salomon anna marie shapiro anna deavere smith jerry i. speyer ricardo steinbruch jon stryker daniel sundheim tony tamer steven tananbaum alice m. tisch edgar wachenheim iii gary winnick
tishman died at the age of 94 on october 11, 2010, at his home in manhattan. he is survived by his two daughters, lynne speyer and nancy gonchar, six grandchildren and 12 great - grandchildren. [ 3 ] his wife phyllis gordon had died in july 1985. [ 8 ]
several agents said that mr. speyer' s decision may have been influenced by the fact that 72d street, unlike much of the most desirable part of the upper east side, is not in a historic district, where his plans would have have had to pass review by the landmarks preservation commission .
mr. speyer: well, that, too. that, too. but we’re worried about various programs that help the city. the city is doing fine right now — even the yankees are doing fine. but what we’re really concerned about is the future. do you have any advice for us ?
according to blueprints filed with the city, mr. speyer' s house will be a cream - colored, mondrian - like assemblage of limestone, bead - blasted textured glass and metal panels. the door will be simple and flush - mounted at street level. ornaments will be kept to a minimum .
one afternoon, we went into the lobby of 50 rockefeller center; in an area where two stores once stood there was now a marble wall pierced by a frosted - glass rectangle. the glass has been carved with arcing motifs that evoke the art deco vocabulary of the surrounding architecture. as we stood there, speyer asked me proudly,'' if you had never been here before, would you be able to tell that the lobby was redone?'' you would not, i thought. it was, like speyer himself, a study in the artful and intricate superimposition of the new upon the old .
in the fall of 2002, for example, they were co - chairmen for the opening gala at carnegie hall. after a reception and chicago symphony orchestra concert of ravel and bizet, mr. speyer and ms. farley presided over a dinner for 850 at the waldorf - astoria that raised $ 2 million .
only a handful of contemporary new houses have been built on the upper east side in the last decade, according to mr. halstead and other real estate agents. one of them, a limestone and glass house at 209 east 71st street between second and third avenues, was owned by mr. speyer himself .
real estate agents said mr. speyer was know to be very particular; he wanted large rooms in a specific layout, so he decided to build. to a few real estate agents, his choice of east 72d, and not a quiet side street, was somewhat surprising because of his penchant for privacy .
… is helped by his … with carnegie hall, where speyer sat on the executive committee. (they may have had help from sanford weill, carnegie’s chairman, and his wife, joan, who’s on the alvin ailey board with farley .) the deal broke down over the allocation of performance time for the orchestra .
his personal profile is also on the rise. yesterday, mr. speyer (pronounced spy - er) presided over his first meeting as chairman of the trustees of columbia university, his alma mater. he has also served as an adviser to political leaders, including mayor rudolph w. giuliani and mario m. cuomo .
this is the sort of ubiquitous do - gooding that gets noticed in new york, where social, business and philanthropic interests merge in a swirl of boardroom dramas, benefit dinners and opening night galas. mr. speyer, 63, and ms. farley, 54, say they do not seek the attention; they declined to be interviewed for this article. but they have become bona fide new york royalty.'' jerry and his wife play a very important role that bridges the business and cultural communities in the city,'' said the financier felix g. rohatyn, who together with his wife, elizabeth, played that role in the 1970' s and 80' s.'' the city has to continue as a cultural, media and financial capital of the world. to do that you need people who can straddle a couple if not more of these constituencies.''
speyer seems not altogether easy with himself, as perhaps befits a person who has crossed from another world. his mother is swiss, and his father comes from one of the old jewish families of frankfurt; his father fled germany in 1939. speyer grew up in a cultivated and proper german - jewish household on riverside drive. at columbia university, he majored in german literature and joined zeta beta thau, the right jewish fraternity. speyer was one of those people who were solid, and even solemn, at an age when others are still flailing and unsure of themselves. according to burt lehman, who was a frat brother:'' even at z. b. t. , he stood out from the rest of us. he wore a jacket and tie - - most of us hadn' t worn a jacket and tie since our bar mitzvahs.'' after graduation, he chucked literature and enrolled at columbia business school. and he abandoned merchant banking for real estate .
ms. farley finds socializing much easier than does mr. speyer, who has told friends that he'' doesn' t do warm and cuddly well.'' he resists being honored at dinners, but together the couple are frequently hosts or chairmen of the fund - raising galas that define a certain stratum of new york society .
in addition to his affiliation with moma, mr. speyer serves on the boards of a number of other organizations, including carnegie hall, new york - presbyterian hospital, the partnership for new york city, rand corporation, urban land institute, columbia university, the new york city investment fund, and survivors of the shoah visual history foundation .
how he got the top job as a trustee, speyer helped moma buy the dorset hotel site in 1996 for its subsequent expansion. (his deal - making shaved $ 25 million off the price .) then he persuaded the giuliani administration to contribute $ 65 million (of the $ 858 million total). he became chairman in 2007 .
but there is a widening base of wealth and power. tishman speyer properties, where mr. speyer is president and chief executive officer, is the largest owner of office space in new york city, according to the real estate board. with his former father - in - law, robert v. tishman, he has built a portfolio of properties worth an estimated $ 5 billion, stretching across the united states and europe. the closely held 17 - year - old company manages more than 15 million square feet of real estate and has developed landmarks like the equitable center in new york, the nbc tower in chicago and continental europe' s tallest building, the messeturm in frankfurt .
mr. speyer may not succeed in his pursuit of rockefeller center or the portfolio of buildings that includes the world financial center. both deals are facing competitive bids from other investor groups .
i' m hopeful they will come through ,
he said friday afternoon .
if not, we' ll look for the next best deal .
mr. speyer' s soon - to - be - neighbors were saddened when the two brownstones were torn down, according to ann millard, who is president of the friends of the upper east side and who lives around the corner on 71st street .
those two wonderful old houses fit in with the whole streetscape ,
she said wistfully .
its goal :
to establish a bond of cooperation and friendship among secretaries to leaders
- - and, by leveraging this network, help both them and their bosses do a better job .
when i find it hard to track someone down ,
says speyer ,
i can always rely on carole and her seraphic society pals .
of course, this whole dialectic of constancy and change is a terribly delicate thing: rigor mortis lies on one side and vulgarity on the other. speyer knows exactly what the world will say if he isn' t careful.'' there' s a culture in each of these buildings that' s really important to respect,'' he said, lest i miss the point. yes, some of the shoe - repair guys would have to go, but he would find a new spot for the hallowed, dingy barbershop - to - the - schlockenheimer - stars.'' we' re staying absolutely away from anything that' s faddish,'' speyer said. there will be no theme restaurants .
“moma is one of the world’s great cultural institutions with one of the world’s premier boards and museum leadership, ” mr. speyer said. “it is my distinct pleasure to work with such a talented and highly qualified group. i salute bob menschel for the high bar he has set and follow him in the position of chairman with all the respect he has earned. ”
recent news reports that revealed details of the extravagant contemporary design, and the location of the new mansion he is building, left mr. speyer feeling hurt, he said. he expressed fear that the publicity jeopardized his family' s safety, and
made me sound like some nouveau riche guy - - something i' ve never wanted to be seen as .
now, i’ve always liked it because it gave people that could go through that process an advantage, like jerry, but it gave us an advantage if you could get through the process. but getting a building approved in new york is a horrible, horrible thing. and that’s nothing compared to when you get into the highways and the dams — they don’t even talk about dams anymore. hydropower is a great, great, form of power — we don’t even talk about it, because to get the environmental permits are virtually impossible. it’s one of the best things you can do — hydro. but we don’t talk about it anymore .
speyer himself is a pudgy fellow with a boxer' s jutting chin and flattened planes; he has a way of talking out of the side of his mouth that is almost endearing in a man so self - consciously respectable. with his employees, he was casual and often jovial. nevertheless, he had a few highly effective mechanisms of control. sometimes he went so long without speaking as to completely unnerve the person across the table. complicated crosscurrents were at play beneath speyer' s smooth surface: he invariably wore a dark tie and a white shirt, though underneath the starched cuff he sported a mickey mouse watch - - a kind of secret sign that he held himself ever so slightly apart from the corporate conventions that he otherwise scrupulously observed .
transfer records show that mr. speyer bought the two brownstones, at 174 and 176 east 72d, in march 1994 for just over $ 3 million. the seller was dr. thomas rees, a plastic surgeon who had lived in one of the houses, rented out the other and used the combined ground floors as professional space. the five - story buildings were demolished last july .
the couple' s home on the upper east side, built in 1995 on the site of two razed town houses, has a vast collection of contemporary art. visitors are given a catalog of what is on the walls. mr. speyer bought his first piece of art 40 years ago and has not sold a single item since. his favorite artists include frank stella and jeff koons .
mr. speyer, chairman emeritus of columbia university, is already leading a campaign to raise $ 1 billion for new york - presbyterian hospital. ms. farley is involved in the $ 325 million reconstruction of west 65th street and alice tully hall at lincoln center, where she is on the executive committee. she is also on the boards of lincoln center theater and alvin ailey american dance theater.
jerry i. speyer ( born june 23 , 1940 ) is an american real estate developer . he is one of two founding partners of the new york real estate company tishman speyer , which controls the rockefeller center and the chrysler building . 
jerry i. speyer (born june 23, 1940) is an american real estate developer. he is one of two founding partners of the new york real estate company tishman speyer, which controls the rockefeller center and the chrysler building.
jerry i. speyer (born june 23, 1940) is an american real estate developer. he is one of two founding partners of the new york real estate company tishman speyer, which controls the rockefeller center and the chrysler building.