Seymour Milstein
| Seymour Milstein | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1920 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Died | 2001 (aged 80–81) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | B.A. New York University |
| Occupation | real estate developer |
| Spouse(s) | Vivian Leiner |
| Children | Constance Milstein Philip Milstein |
| Parent(s) | Morris Milstein |
| Family | Paul Milstein (brother) |
Seymour Milstein (1920–2001) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist.
Milstein was born to Jewish family in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. In 1919, his father Morris Milstein, an immigrant from Russia and who started out as a floor scraper, founded the Circle Floor Company, Inc., a wood flooring company, and in 1945, the Mastic Tile Company, a vinyl floor tile manufacturing company.
In 1941, Milstein graduated from New York University. He went to work for Mastic Tile becoming president in 1955 while his brother, Paul Milstein, went to work for Circle Floor becoming president in 1961. In 1959, Mastic Tile, was sold to Ruberoid, for $24 million. Circle Floor expanded into floor tiles, acoustical ceilings, and drywall construction and won contracts to install flooring in several New York landmarks including Rockefeller Center, the United Nations Building, and both John F Kennedy Airport and LaGuardia Airport. By 1966, Circle Floor was the nation's largest subcontractor of floor, wall and ceiling construction.
In the late 1950s, Milstein and his brother Paul founded Milstein Properties and branched out into real estate. Paul was the aggressive frontman and deal-maker while Seymour was the contemplative finance person who preferred to work behind the scenes. This difference is temperament led them to be coined "the diplomat and the barbarian." In 1964, they completed their first large real estate development, the 34-story, 680-unit Dorchester Towers on the Upper West Side. Also in 1964, they sold Circle Floor to Kinney National Company (then run by Steve Ross) for $15 million with Paul remaining as manager of the unit until 1971.
In 1974, the Milsteins entered the mining and energy sectors; and acquired United Brands, the parent company of Chiquita Bananas, after the suicide of its owner Eli M. Black. In 1981, the Milsteins stripped the New York Biltmore Hotel down to its steel structure and reclad the frame in granite - despite the building's landmark status and concerted protests by preservationists - in order to fashion a new headquarters for Bank of America. In 1986, the Milsteins acquired the Emigrant Savings Bank, which they built into the largest privately owned bank in the country. In 1986, they founded Liberty Cable Co.
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