Max Fisher | |
---|---|
Born |
Max Martin Fisher July 15, 1908 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Died | March 3, 2005 Franklin, Michigan |
(aged 96)
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Businessman |
Spouse(s) |
|
Children | 5, including Mary Davis Fisher |
Relatives | Stephen M. Ross (nephew) |
Website | web |
Max Martin Fisher (July 15, 1908 – March 3, 2005) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was a benefactor/alumnus of the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. He spent much of his life raising money for philanthropic and political endeavors and was a supporter of charitable and civic organizations. His skill at diplomacy kept him connected to every administration since President Dwight D. Eisenhower's on Middle East and Jewish issues.
Fisher was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Russian Jewish immigrant parents and grew up in Salem, Ohio, where his father owned a clothing store. He attended The Ohio State University on a football scholarship and graduated with a degree in business administration in 1930. While a student at OSU, he was initiated into the Alpha Epsilon chapter of the Phi Beta Delta Fraternity, which is now part of the Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity. In 1933, Fisher joined his father's oil reclamation business in Detroit as a $15-a-week salesman before forming his own company. He grew the business into one of the largest gas station chains in the Midwest before selling the business in 1959 to Aurora Gasoline, a company Fisher would chair for 27 years.
Following the sale of Aurora to Marathon Oil for $40 million, Fisher invested his fortune in real estate after retiring from business in 1963 where he sat on the board of Comerica, the consumer and investment bank, Sotheby's, and United Brands, in addition to serving as the Honorary Chairman of United Jewish Communities (UJC), Council of Jewish Federations, and the American Jewish Committee. Fisher supported Jewish and general causes worldwide and played a major role in almost every major Jewish communal organization. He was also the subject of articles, debates, TV documentaries, and a biography, entitled Quiet Diplomat by Peter Golden.