October 19, 2011 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6759 Mr. President, the Cincinnati driving the hometown star back to Cinergy which would become its chief operating busi- Enquirer published recently an obit- Field from Lunken Airport in his Rolls- ness. uary for Mr. Carl Lindner. I ask unani- Royce. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the com- mous consent that said article be But as the Reds’ losses mounted, Lindner pany bought and sold companies in a variety never spoke publicly to fans and privately of industries. Lindner took the company pri- printed in the RECORD. bristled at talk-radio criticism. vate in 1981 and released little financial in- There being no objection, the mate- That period ended in late 2005 when formation to the public, but in 1995 the com- rial was ordered to be printed in the Lindner sold a controlling stake in the Reds pany sold stock to public shareholders under RECORD, as follows: to a group headed by Bob Castellini. the new umbrella of American Financial [From the Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 18, 2011] Shy and scornful of reporters, Lindner nev- Group Inc. ertheless became a focus of media attention In 2003, Keith Lindner left American Fi- CARL HENRY LINDNER: 1919–2011 because of his substantial wealth and his far- nancial to concentrate on the family’s chari- BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR, DEAD AT 92, WAS flung business dealings. table pursuits. In 2004 Carl and Craig Lindner CINCINNATI’S BIGGEST BENEFACTOR The controversies included millions of dol- were named co-CEOs of the company while (By Cliff Peale) lars in political contributions as his Chiquita Carl Lindner Jr. remained chairman. From humble beginnings running his fa- Brands International Inc. was waging a trade Lindner was a conservative icon, lobbying ther’s dairy store in Norwood, Carl Henry war with European countries, a bevy of law- against Robert Mapplethorpe’s 1990 exhibit Lindner Jr. grew into a billionaire, a friend suits and federal charges over business deals at the Contemporary Arts Center here and of U.S. presidents and Greater Cincinnati’s that benefited Lindner and his company funding the Cincinnati Hills Christian Acad- most successful entrepreneur. more than other shareholders, and a high- emy. For nearly a century until he died late profile battle with the Enquirer in 1998 over But he was pragmatic as well, contributing Monday at age 92, the former Reds owner a series of critical stories on Chiquita. more than $1 million to Democratic Presi- never shed the fierce competitiveness and Lindner built a national reputation in the dent Bill Clinton during Chiquita Brands’ loyalty that made him a hometown icon. 1980s as a high-risk trader, becoming a busi- battle over European banana quotas. He was His influence ran to every corner of Great- ness partner of symbols of the decade’s ex- well known as one of the biggest givers in er Cincinnati. The high-school dropout cess such as junk-bond king Michael Milken the country to both political parties. bought and sold Kings Island, the Reds, and Cincinnati’s own Charles Keating. THE GOOD LIFE Provident Bank and the Enquirer. His name He was the classic ‘‘value investor,’’ buy- Lindner developed a taste for the good life, is on buildings from the University of Cin- ing properties few other investors wanted including a sprawling home in Indian Hill cinnati’s business school to the tennis center and waiting years, or even decades, to reap and nearly a dozen Rolls-Royce auto- at Lunken Playfield. the benefits. mobiles—with the trademark ‘‘CHL’’ license But it was the banking and insurance busi- That gave him a portfolio including the old plate—that he drove himself well into his ness that made him a billionaire. At his Penn Central railroad, Circle K convenience 80s. death, his American Financial Group Inc. stores and New York City landmark Grand He also owned a home in the exclusive controlled assets of nearly $32 billion and he Central Station. Ocean Reef community of North Key Largo, was routinely listed as one of the richest But Lindner spent the two decades before Fla. There, he entertained lavishly, includ- men in America. his death shedding assets that didn’t deal ing hosting former President George Bush in Ever the optimist, Lindner often carried an with insurance and transferring others to his the early 1990s. inch-thick stack of cards with motivational three sons. That left American Financial as Lindner traveled around the country in his sayings—one was ‘‘Only in America! Gee, am mostly an insurance and financial services own private jet. He dined often at exclusive I lucky!’’—that he handed out to anyone he company. restaurants like the Maisonette or the Wa- would meet. He lost his stake in Chiquita in 2002 when terfront—where he was an investor —and He was a teetotaler, physically unimposing that company emerged from Chapter 11 also became a regular at Trio in Kenwood. yet with a prominent shock of white hair bankruptcy. In 2004, Lindner, his family and Lindner received nearly every award Cin- and a penchant for wearing flashy neckties. American Financial reaped nearly $1 billion cinnati has to offer, including induction into Even to his closest friends and colleagues, in stock when they sold Cincinnati’s Provi- Junior Achievement’s Greater Cincinnati he was soft-spoken and rarely dent Financial Group Inc. to Cleveland-based Business Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Great confrontational. Yet some business partners National City Corp. Living Cincinnatian award in 1994. complained about unfair treatment and he The moves consolidated the business He was also on the board of directors of flashed a harsh temper when confronting re- around safer insurance businesses. Lindner Citizens for Decency through Law, an anti- porters who wrote what he perceived as un- also transferred tens of millions of dollars to pornography group headed by American Fi- friendly stories or criticism of his business his three sons and their families, solidifying nancial co-founder and one-time Executive dealings. for generations a wealth that he never en- Vice President Charles Keating. A devout Baptist and a longtime member joyed growing up. Among numerous awards and honors of Kenwood Baptist Church, Lindner used his STARTING FROM SCRATCH throughout his career, Lindner was named wealth and influence behind the scenes to be- Born April 22, 1919, in Dayton, Ohio, Carl Man of the Year of the United Jewish Appeal come Greater Cincinnati’s largest benefactor Henry Lindner Jr. was the firstborn of a in 1978 and received the Friars Club Centen- and economic development force. At the modest dairyman and his wife, Clara. nial Award in 1985. He was awarded an hon- height of his personal giving he contributed Lindner quit high school to help in his fa- orary doctorate by UC in 1985 and by Xavier millions of dollars a year to charitable ther’s Norwood dairy store. Along with his University in 1991. causes, and brought thousands of high-pay- father, he and his brothers Robert and Rich- SERVICES NOT SCHEDULED YET ing jobs to downtown Cincinnati. ard, and sister Dorothy, built it into United His companies brought thousands of em- Lindner’s family has not yet scheduled me- Dairy Farmers, a chain of dairy and conven- ployees to the region, and the annual Christ- morial or funeral services. ience stores. mas party that he threw at Music Hall at- American Financial Group, where Lindner When the family founded what now is UDF tracted some of the nation’s biggest acts, in- was chairman, said Tuesday that the family on Montgomery Road in Norwood in 1940, the cluding Bill Cosby and Frank Sinatra. had requested memorial gifts be made to first day’s sales amounted to $8.28. Kenwood Baptist Church. CONSIDERED HIMSELF OUTSIDER Lindner often talked about the modest sur- Lindner is survived by wife Edyth, sons At the same time, Lindner thought of him- roundings of his childhood, noting more than Carl III, Craig and Keith, 12 grandchildren self as an outsider, building his business ca- once that he picked up dates in an ice-cream and five great-grandchildren. reer outside of Cincinnati’s old-money elite. truck. He was never a member of many of the most Robert Lindner’s family eventually took f exclusive business and country clubs and his control of UDF, and Richard Lindner became TRIBUTE TO DR. JULIA LINK bar-the-doors business style, starting with a sole owner of the Thriftway supermarket ROBERTS hostile takeover of Provident Bank in the chain before selling it to Winn-Dixie Stores. mid-1960s, was out of place in always polite Lindner married the former Ruth Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I Cincinnati. Wiggeringloh of Norwood in 1942. They di- rise today to recognize a fine Ken- Perhaps the most public role of his career vorced seven years later with no children. He tuckian and an outstanding educator, was his ownership of the Cincinnati Reds then married the former Edyth Bailey in my friend Dr. Julia Link Roberts. Dr. from 1999 to 2005. Lindner owned a minority 1951, and they have three sons who all went Roberts is the Mahurin Professor of stake both before and after that period but into the family business: Carl III, Craig and Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky was the Reds’ CEO for six seasons, and each Keith. University and the executive director of those years the team lost more games Lindner cautiously entered the savings- than it won. and-loan and insurance business, founding of the Center for Gifted Studies, a lead- He approved the trade for Ken Griffey Jr. his flagship company American Financial ing Kentucky institution devoted to in 2000, even sending his private jet to bring Corp.