Andrew M. Murstein
| Andrew M. Murstein | |
|---|---|
Murstein in 2007
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| Born |
Andrew Mead Murstein June 29, 1964 Roslyn, New York |
| Alma mater | Tufts University, New York University |
| Occupation | President and Board Member, Medallion Financial Corp. |
| Net worth | $650,000,000 |
| Spouse(s) | Barbara Lynn Rudnick |
| Children | Kimberly and Matt Murstein |
Andrew Mead Murstein (born June 29, 1964) is founder, president, board member and largest shareholder of Medallion Financial Corp., an investment company publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol MFIN (changed from TAXI on May 11, 2016). According to publicly available information, his net worth is in excess of $650,000,000. MFIN and its predecessor companies have invested over $5,000,000,000 in various companies throughout the U.S. Including dividends, MFIN has had an average annual return of 21% per year over the last 10 years. He received a B.A. in economics, cum laude, from Tufts University and an M.B.A. in finance from New York University. He was named among Crain’s New York Business’ “40 Under 40”, and has been featured in numerous business publications. In 2013 he was appointed to the Board of the Javits Center by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Andrew Mead Murstein was born in Roslyn, New York to Alvin and Aileen Murstein. His grandfather of German descent, Leon Murstein, came to the United States from Argentina, became a New York cabdriver and purchased one of the first New York taxi medallions, issued in 1937, for $10. The family went on to purchase several hundred medallions for prices as little as $10 each—medallions peaked at over $1,300,000 each and currently sell for around $850,000 each. Murstein reportedly sold the majority of his medallions in 2012 and 2013 before Uber and Lyft affected the taxi medallion values.
Murstein’s introduction to the taxicab industry came early. His father, employed by his grandfather in his Queens-based taxi business, used to take young Andrew along to the taxi garage, where he was assigned to collect rentals for using the medallion from taxi drivers at the ends of their shifts. Murstein soon learned not to believe the excuses – such as a baby being born in the back of the cab – drivers often used for returning their taxis late.
Andrew’s father and grandfather eventually owned more than 500 medallions. When they decided to sell some in the 1970s, no banks would provide the financing so that is when they got into the lending business. Banks would not lend to immigrants because they considered them too risky. They did not understand the character of the immigrant and were not aware of the value and security of a taxi medallion. Medallion has since lent over $3 billion to the taxi industry with zero losses.
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