| Walter Shorenstein | |
| Birth Date: | 1915 2, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Glen Cove, New York, US |
| Alma Mater: | University of Pennsylvania (BA) |
| Spouse: | Phyllis Finley |
| Children: | Joan Shorenstein Carole Shorenstein Hays Douglas W. Shorenstein |
| Known For: | Principal of Shorenstein Properties |
| Occupation: | Real estate developer |
Walter H. Shorenstein (February 15, 1915 - June 24, 2010)[1] was an American billionaire real estate developer and investor. His company, Shorenstein Properties, owned 130 buildings totaling at least 28000000square feet of office space at the time of his death.[2]
He at one point owned 25% of the commercial office space in the City of San Francisco, including the iconic Bank of America Building.
Shorenstein was born to a Jewish family[3] [4] in 1915 in Glen Cove, New York, son of a clothier. His uncle, Hyman Schorenstein, was a political "kingmaker" in New York during the early 20th century, and ancestor to a number of New York politicians.[5] In 1934, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1941, he enlisted in the United States Air Force.[2]
Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Shorenstein moved to San Francisco with savings of $1,000.[6] He worked as a commercial real estate broker, becoming a partner at Milton Meyer and Co., a firm he bought in 1960 upon its founder's death and renamed after himself.[2] He and others attributed his success in business to "street smarts".[2]
In 1993, Shorenstein helped an investor group purchase the San Francisco Giants baseball team thus preventing the franchise from moving to Florida.[2]
Shorenstein became active politically and was a significant fundraiser for the Democratic Party. He was a major donor to civic and charitable causes, as well as higher education. He was prominent in the Jewish-American political and philanthropic community.[7] In honor of his daughter who died of cancer in 1985, Shorenstein founded the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy—renamed the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy in 2014—at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He also endowed the Walter H. Shorenstein Forum for Asia Pacific Studies at Stanford University.[8] In 1993, he and Mikhail Gorbachev established the Gorbachev Foundation in San Francisco. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed him as a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a position he filled until 2007.[9]
In 1945, Shorenstein married Phyllis Finley of Wellington, Kansas. She met her husband while working as a volunteer ambulance driver at Travis Air Force Base, where Shorenstein was stationed during World War II.[10] Phyllis converted to Judaism.[11] Mrs. Shorenstein had a heart ailment and died in 1994 at the age 76 in San Francisco. They had three children: