Leon levy foundation biography of alberta

American financier (1925–2003)

Leon Levy (September 13, 1925 – April 6, 2003)^[1] was an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist.

At his death, Forbes magazine called him “a Wall Street investment genius,”^[2] who helped create both mutual funds and hedge funds.

Leon levy fellow

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish family,^[3] Levy attended Townsend Harris High School and studied psychology at City College of New York. After serving in the U.S. Army, he began working as a research analyst.

He was strongly influenced in his business approach by his father, Jerome Levy, an economist and business executive who emphasized the role corporate profits play in charting the economy's direction.^[1]

Investment career

In 1956 he became a partner of Oppenheimer & Co.

Inc, then in 1959 Levy co-founded the Oppenheimer mutual funds. There he started dozens of mutual funds that, at his death, had grown to manage more than $120