Kenneth Gerard "Ken" Langone Sr.

Kenneth Gerard "Ken" Langone Sr.
Personal Details
Name	Kenneth Gerard Langone Sr.
Born	1935-09-16
Birthplace	Roslyn Heights, New York, U.S.A.
Spouse	Elaine Langone
Marital status	Married
Children	Kenneth G. Langone, Jr. Stephen Langone Bruce Langone
Nationality	American
Residence	Sands Point, New York, U.S.A.
Education	Bucknell University  (B.A.) New York University  (M.B.A.)
Membership	Kappa Beta Phi
Profession	Businessman Investor Philanthropist
Known for	Financing of The Home Depot Major donor to Republican Party
Wealth	2021-11-10: $US6.4 billion
Religion	Practicing  Roman Catholic (Knight of St. Gregory)
Political party	Republican Party
Political position	Right-wing
Ideology	Christian right Conservatism Indirectly (via political funding); Homophobia (notably Joe Manchin) Transphobia (notably Joe Manchin)

Background

Kenneth Gerard Langone Sr.  [KSG]  (born 1935-09-16) is an American billionaire businessman, investor, and philanthropist, best known for organizing financing for the founders of The Home Depot. Kenneth Langone has been a major donor to the Republican Party.

Early Life

Kenneth Langone was born in Roslyn Heights, New York, to Italian American working-class parents. His father was a plumber and his mother a cafeteria worker. Langone's family has been described as having "a lot of love, but not a lot of money." Kenneth Langone was a student at Bucknell University and the New York University Stern School of Business.

Business Career

In the early 1960s, Kenneth Langone began his career at a Wall Street   financial services company named R.W. Pressprich & Co., where he helped develop new business. In 1968 Langone met and persuaded Ross Perot to let R.W. Pressprich handle Electronic Data Systems'  IPO. In 1969, Langone would be named R.W. Pressprich's president.

In 1974, Kenneth Langone formed the venture capital firm Invemed Associates LLC. Langone organized financing for Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank to found The Home Depot. With a national chain with over 400,000 employees, The Home Depot is now Kenneth Langone's most notable business venture.

Kenneth Langone has been on the boards of Geeknet,   General Electric,   Database Technologies, ChoicePoint Inc.  [now: LexisNexis Risk Solutions],   Unifi  [local copy], and Yum! Brands, Inc.

Kenneth Langone was chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)'s Compensation Committee from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, Attorney General of New York   Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit against the New York Stock Exchange's former Chairman Richard Grasso to return $100 million to the NYSE that were part of his $139.5 million pay package. The lawsuit named Langone who had approved the pay package. Langone denied that the pay packages were illegal considering that the NYSE had direct knowledge of the boards decision. On 2008-07-01, the New York State Court of Appeals dismissed all claims against Richard Grasso because the NYSE had changed its status from a nonprofit to a for-profit organization, which meant that the Attorney General of New York had lost standing to sue Grasso.

Personal Life

Kenneth Langone and his wife Elaine Langone have three children; Kenneth G. Jr., Stephen, and Bruce Langone.

Kenneth Langone is a practicing   Roman Catholic, and was made a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Benedict XVI.

Kenneth Langone lives in Sands Point, New York, and had previously lived on Elderfields Road in nearby Flower Hill, New York.

Kenneth Langone is a member of Kappa Beta Phi.

On 2021-01-13, Kenneth Langone said he felt "betrayed" by Donald Trump's actions regarding the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, echoing Langone's comments from 2017 on the Unite the Right rally.

Philanthropy

In 2018 Kenneth Langone pledged $100 million in funding towards a $450 million program to make tuition free for all medical students at the NYU School of Medicine. Langone serves as the chair of the Board of Trustees of the NYU Langone Medical Center.

Kenneth Langone serves on the boards of the Ronald McDonald House of New York, the Center for Strategic & International Studies  [local copy], the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, and the Harlem Children's Zone.

In 2019, Kenneth Langone donated over $5 million to the Animal Medical Center in New York City.

Kenneth Langone is a major donor to the Republican Party as of 2014.

In Popular Media

Kenneth Langone is portrayed by actor Ray Iannicelli in the 2017 HBO Films production The Wizard of Lies. In the film, Langone rejects an offer to invest money in the schemes of convicted Wall Street swindler Bernie Madoff. Langone is extensively featured in the documentary Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, where Langone discusses his fierce rivalry with former Governor of New York   Eliot Spitzer.

Additional Reading

Senator Joe Manchin's efforts to winnow down key parts of Joe Biden's agenda appear to have earned him clout with a like-minded constituency: Republican billionaires. In a Wednesday morning [2021-11-10] interview with CNBC,   Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone said that he plans to raise money for West Virginia   Democrat Joe Manchin's 2024 re-election campaign.

"I'm going to have one of the biggest fundraisers I've ever had for him," Langone told CNBC. "He's special. He's precious. He's a great American." Langone is one of the GOP's most prominent rainmakers, famous for pouring money into Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. According to the Center for Responsive Politics  [OpenSecrets.org], Kenneth Langone has also contributed to some Democrats in the past, including former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY).

Joe Manchin's campaign and Senate office did not respond to requests for comment.

Manchin has also received public praise from Nelson Peltz, a billionaire investor, who previously hosted fundraisers for Donald Trump in his Florida home. In an 2021-10 interview, Nelson Peltz told CNBC that he speaks with Joe Manchin every week and offers him words of encouragement.

Kenneth Langone's announcement comes as Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) work to reduce the scale and scope of Biden's $1.8 trillion social spending plan [American Rescue Plan Act of 2021]. Joe Manchin has specifically opposed programs designed to shift American businesses from fossil fuels to clean energy [relevance: climate change denial], while owning millions of dollars in coal industry stock. Joe Manchin has also criticized a Democratic plan to tax billionaires as divisive, and has opposed raising the corporate tax above 25 percent.

Kyrsten Sinema has herself received an influx of cash from GOP megadonors. Fundraising reports filed in 2021-10 showed that big-name Republican donors, including billionaire businessmen and private equity executives, had contributed thousands of dollars to her campaign.

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Joseph Manchin III

• Joseph Manchin III is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior   United States Senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Joe Manchin was the 34th Governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the 27th Secretary of State of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005.

  Joe Manchin has called himself a "moderate   conservative Democrat" and is often cited as the most conservative Democrat in the Senate. West Virginia has become one of the most heavily Republican states in the country, but Manchin has continued to see electoral success. As of 2021, Manchin is the only Democrat holding statewide office in West Virginia, as well as the only Democrat in West Virginia's congressional delegation.

  As a member of Congress, Manchin is known for his support of bipartisanship, voting or working with Republicans on issues such as abortion and gun ownership. He opposed the energy policies of President Barack Obama, including reductions and restrictions on coal mining, voted against cloture for the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (not voting on the bill itself), voted to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood in 2015, supported President Donald Trump's immigration policies and voted to confirm most of his cabinet and judicial appointees, including Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Joe Manchin has also repeatedly voted against attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), voted to preserve funding for Planned Parenthood in 2017, and voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In addition, he voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials.

  Joe Manchin is a prominent opponent of policy proposals from the progressive wing of his party, including Medicare For All, abolishing the filibuster, increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and defunding the police. Joe Manchin is also among the more isolationist members of the Democratic caucus, having repeatedly called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and opposed most military interventions in Syria. Manchin's business interests include founding the Enersystems coal brokerage, in which he owns $1-5 million of non-public shares. Joe Manchin receives the largest coal, oil and gas industry donations of any senator.

  [Source; Joe Manchin, 2021-11-10.]

• Re: Nelson Peltz, see also: Wendy's Chairman and Top Owner Is Trump Donor, Fundraiser and Friend.

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