Im sure some prominent person is behind the LLC. Dispatchadvertising increased,Citizencirculation fell, and theDispatchsoon established dominance. One of the most colorful stories of the family's early civic activismcameduring the flood of 1913. When Harry Wolfe died of kidney disease at the age of 73 in 1946, he still despised theCitizen, believing it had been in some measure responsible for Columbus's worst banking crisis. The 13,250 square foot home is the second largest home in Columbus proper. The result was the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. and mystery. Their father had inherited roughly half the family financial interests; their older brother, Robert F. II, had been killed in an auto accident at 19. George's Practice Areas: Probate. Today Dick is remarried, lives near Los Angeles and is vice president for technology of a company called Sat-Corp Inc. If any family members seem equipped by training or temperament to lead a challenge to John W. Wolfe's leadership, Dick and Bruce would be the logical candidates. "I remember him more as an outdoorsman than I do as a businessman," says his daughter, Amy. The property is called the Wigwam and is known for its Native American motif. Harry's idea of a good time was to invite family and friends to a dinner he had planned and prepared himself at the Wigwam, where the Wolfes often entertained politicians and celebrities and sometimes made business deals. In the early 1920s Harry, stricken by a critical illness, lay bedridden for 15 months. After her divorce from Ed Jr., Marilyn remarried and had another daughter, Jane Scott, who has become the focal point of the current family legal battles. And Eddie III wanted to give the bulk of his own estate-estimated at $15 million-to his half sister, Jane Scott. They battled over custody of their four children, over child support, over alimony. Better be careful comments like that could easily land you in the poor house or worse. "The entire family isdevoted to the city, and theyve been in the forefront of so many things the OSU cancer center, Children's Hospital, Franklin Park Conservatory, the Zoo.". Estate and inheritance tax laws work against the smooth transfer of ownership from one generation to the next. If stock is transferred, Wolfe businesses could be forced to deal with a new shareholder, Jane Scott, who is not a blood relative. Will any of the lawsuits ever come to trial? She took him to court for back payments; he alleged she reneged on part of a bank loan. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Only one other third-generation Wolfe has held an important role in a family business- Richard M. Now a trim and youthful-looking 52, Dick Wolfe joined WBNS-TV after two unhappy years at Ohio National Bank. Roger Blackwell is a marketing expert, author and public speaker who has worked with the likes of Les Wexner and Jack Welch. "There's no doubt they had some influence." There isn't anythingsignificantin central Ohiothat John Wolfedid not have a hand in, not a single civic project.". A family foundation, Wolfe Associates, has distributed $4 million to charities since 1973; and Dispatch Charities, a corporate fund-raising arm, sponsors annual events such as the Home & Garden Show at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. This one is a bit of a departure from the mansions and mega-estates that make up the rest of the list. One day he dropped an envelope on Harry's desk; it contained $50,000. Sometimes it seems the more the family does for the city-and its contributions have been considerable-the more mistrusted it becomes. A year after selling the paper, at the age of 72, John F. Wolfe died of cancer, which he had been quietly battling for two years. It's rare to see a photo of any Wolfe family member. It appears to now be the home of James Merkel. Because of tax encumbrances on the estate, however, the trustees apparently could not meet Eddie III's request until January, 1985, when the tax issues were settled. Robert served on the Columbus Planning Commission and donated land east of Alum Creek for a city park, known today as Wolfe Park. More critically, the newspaper industry, the foundationof the family's business world, was starting to struggle. (However, John W.'s cousin, John Frederick, retained a Wolfe influence on the BancOhio board by assuming a seat, and remains today on the board of National City Corp., which acquired BancOhio in 1984.). Through the Ohio Company, the Wolfes also own Ohio Equities Inc., a prominent commercial real estate firm. Appraised Value:$2,550,200if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'nothingbuthouse_com-leader-1','ezslot_21',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-nothingbuthouse_com-leader-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'nothingbuthouse_com-leader-1','ezslot_22',113,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-nothingbuthouse_com-leader-1-0_1'); .leader-1-multi-113{border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none !important;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:5px !important;margin-left:auto !important;margin-right:auto !important;margin-top:5px !important;max-width:100% !important;min-height:50px;padding:0;text-align:center !important;}. John W. Wolfe says he's made only one public speech in his life, when he received the city's Christopher Columbus award a few years ago. Newspaper accounts said he complained of feeling ill, opened the window and fell. He died in 1957 at the age of 63. The property was purchased by Robert Ouellette, who is a partner at the IceMiller law firm in 2015. . "Edgar could be very kind to loyal friends and employees," recalls an acquaintance, "but he was hard to understand. Family & Friends View All. He retaliated by yanking all advertising by Wolfe businesses from theCitizenand cutting the street-sales price of theDispatchfrom two cents to one. John W. is said to be close, these days, to his niece, Amy, one of Edgar Jr.'s four children. The corporation that owns this land, Agricultural Lands Inc., is said to be the largest property owner in Madison County. At 33, Michael holds an important job-Dispatchproduction manager-but so far hasn't appeared to be on a fast track to joining the two Johns at the family's highest echelon. That caring was guided by his unselfish thinking and engagement. Whether youre talking abouttheeconomics,philanthropies orpoliticsof Columbus, theyre involved for more than 125 years., Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Advertising revenue at The Dispatch and other newspapers plunged as classified advertisers moved to online sites such as Craigslist, eBay, Monsterand Realtor.com. "We haddeveloperswanting to build an outlet mall on the City Centersite," Worley said. (A notable exception in the current generation isDispatchpublisher John Frederick, who remains married to his high-school sweetheart.) Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. "He would give money away to many things, but never wanted anyone to know about it." Columbus Clinton Wolfe was born on month day 1871, to Americus Wolfe and Mary Bollard. In 1975, he became chairman of the Dispatch Printing Company, parent organization of the Columbus Dispatch. Eddie instructed his cousin Bruce Wolfe, a California lawyer, to divide his personal and business property among friends and family. In less than a decade, Wolfe Brothers Shoe Company grew to employ 800 people. No Wolfe woman has ever held substantial power in a family business. When the family sold the paper in 2015, followed a year later by the death of the last family publisher, John F. Wolfe, anera came to a closein Columbus. And although Dick Wolfe was nominally D'Angelo's boss, media gossip had it that the tough-talking D'Angelo actually reported to the equally tough-talking John W. Dick Wolfe, in other words, had been sidetracked. Between 2006 and 2015, newspaper advertising revenue fell 60%, according to the Pew Research Center. "One time he got the tip of his ring finger cut off," recalls a family member. As his health deteriorated in 1984 and early 1985, Eddie tried to get his financial affairs in order. Mr. Benson is a partner at Casto, a real estate development firm founded by his grandfather. Both the Wolfes and Gill were Republicans, but Harry and Robert harbored an abiding dislike for the congressman and his wing of the party. In four generations, no Wolfe woman-spouse or child-has ever assumed an important role in a family enterprise. JW and CPK trust is JCk and Charlotte Kessler. He had the nurses in tears.". Until the late 1970s, when it began to be challenged by aggressive competitors, BancOhio remained Columbus's largest and most powerful banking organization. The family got its Columbus start in 1888, when Robert F. Wolfelanded in the city at age28 after bouncing around the nation in a novelistic string of jobs includingcanal boat crew member, New York newsboy, Atlantic coast shipper, Louisiana lumberjack and Texas cowboy. "Jerry" Jurgensen, who arrived in Columbus in 2000 to become chief executive officer of Nationwide. From a moral standpoint, Dick says, Eddie should have had the right to leave his money to whomever he pleased. Family will receive friends . "For three generations, they had the most understated and underappreciated impact on the development of Columbus than any other family by far in the city's history," said Michael Curtin, who worked at the Dispatch Printing Companyfor 34 years before retiring in 2007 as associate publisher of the paper. Mike, now 33, is Dispatch production manager. Your reminder that Leslie Wexner financed the mass rape and trafficking of thousands of American children for over a decade and, right now, he is sitting in a 26k square foot mansion in New Albany, Ohio thinking that he is above the law. By the early 21st century, cracks were showing in the family's financial world. Eager to create a vehicle for the city's business leaders to focus their civic efforts, Wolfe and L Brands founder Les Wexner in 2002 created The Columbus Partnership, comprised of the CEOs of Columbus' top corporations. "He cared about the people and every aspect of the quality of life," Wexner said. New Media Investmentoperates in more than 415 marketsin 31 states, including theCanton Repositoryand theMassillon Independent. Owner: Colts Neck Manor LLC / Samuel B Davis. Robert is said to have worked on a canal boat, sold newspapers on the streets of New York City, sailed to Cuba, labored in Louisiana swamps and herded cattle in Texas. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,50],'nothingbuthouse_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_10',108,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-nothingbuthouse_com-medrectangle-3-0'); This home was originally #12 on our first version of this list in 2017! Last Sold: $830,000 in 2013if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'nothingbuthouse_com-box-4','ezslot_18',110,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-nothingbuthouse_com-box-4-0'); Thanks to a commenter on this post for mentioning this house! The home sold for $8 million (!) And his battle plan succeeded. One of those children, Robert F., left home while still in his teens, in the 1870s. In recent years John W. has become more active-and more open-in participating in civic decisions. In two years, his obituary later would say, he never missed a day. "John Wolfewas right up front with one of the early investors of the Crew, and subsequently with the Blue Jackets. "It became quite clear that I was not cut out to be a banker," he recalls. Call OVI Attorney George Wolfe now. John W. Wolfe's legal battles with his first wife went all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court and set precedents in state domestic law. But the brothers didn't let such opinions stand in the way of good business. And he specifically disinherited three relatives: his mother, Marilyn May; and his half-siblings, Andrew and Amy, Edgar Jr.'s children by a second marriage. And through it all, the mystique remains. @TT Thanks for the tip! Columbus passed away on month day 1940, at age 68 at death place, Washington. Elisa, says one of her attorneys, knew Eddie had AIDS, but at his request didn't reveal his illness to family members. Edgar loved boats and kept them not only at his summer home on Journal Island in Buckeye Lake, but on the Florida coast and Lake Erie. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "John is one of the brightest, nicest and sincerest people to work for," Johnson says. The Wolfe family businessstood on shoes, not newspapers. It's impossible to talk seriously about Columbus-past, present or future--without talking about the Wolfes. In 1975, the family addedWTHR-TV of Indianapolisto the stable. By the time John F. Wolfe took the reins of the family's business interests, his sixth-floor office overlooking the Statehouse had become a center ofpower in the community. These stories appeared in the April 1986 issue of Columbus Monthly. The Columbus Dispatch Printing Company has been sold to the New Media Investment Group Incorporated, a company based in New York. Rightly or wrongly, he was seen as more liberal, more open and friendly-certainly more social. Within the past decade he has: Used the Dispatch to help defeat a tax levy for the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) because he was angry at Will Hellerman, a Nationwide Insurance executive who was then COTA's chairman. Edgar T. Wolfe III, notable to Wolfe-watchers for the fact that he declared himself gay, felt more at home in California than in Ohio. document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2016-2019 NothingButHouse.com. Another real possibility is that John W. and John F. may orchestrate the sale of some-or even all-of the family's major assets. The Dispatch was rightfully criticized for a long time fornot being aggressive enough when it came to sacred cows, for being too Chamber ofCommerce-ish, Curtin said. He'd stand on the stage of the Ohio Theatre in a blue velvet dinner jacket to introduce the Columbus Symphony, and he'd volunteer for almost anything. Mr. Bates is the President and CEO of SingleCare / MHNet Behavorial Health Inc. Mrs. Weiss husband, Michael Weiss, was the CEO of Express from 1982 until 2016. Columbus, OH. But Eddie fell victim to AIDS, the always fatal disintegration of the body's immune systems that primarily afflicts homosexuals. Apparently displeased by the pretentiousness of the black-tie affair, Robert wrote "Bullshit" on a program and left abruptly. He loved music, often entertaining friends on the piano or electric organ. Others suffer violent deaths--one in a plane crash, one in a car wreck, one in a fall from the fifth floor of theDispatchbuilding. The most expensive home in Columbus, Ohio belongs to non-other than Les Wexner, who also happens to be the richest person in Ohio. Mr. Lucks is a real estate developer and son of Jack Lucks, who co-founded Continental Real Estate Companies with Frank Kass. "I think it bothers John F. personally," says Johnson, "but he realizes that that is the price of operating in the [Wolfe's] traditional way.". But their other assets remain impressive: The Ohio Company, Central Ohio's largest brokerage and investment banking house, has nearly $100 million in assets and a net worth of nearly $50 million. Bill, about 25 years older than his half brother Mike, became a vice president of the Dispatch Printing Company before dying of a blood disease in 1973, at the age of 47. At one point he sent her a letter calling her a "gold digger." Wolfe was born in Columbus, Ohio. He surprised the city's charity leaders by agreeing to take a seat on the Columbus Foundation's board of governors. John W. paid for Nadine Allen's education, and in 1985 she became the first female black municipal judge in Hamilton County. The interesting questions that surround the city's most powerful family right now revolve around the amount of public involvement of its leaders, specifically John W.'s increasingly visible role in the community; around the lawsuit over Eddie's will and the effects it may have on family relationships and family business; and on the eventual succession to leadership of the empire. There is a property on 673 S Mohawk St in German Village that should be on this list. "Then Columbus began to grow after the war and more families got involved. A graduate of Stanford University and Hastings Law School, he was associated for several years with an environmental group that, among other things, bought desert properties to save them from development. To this day, Jo Ann Wallace Wolfe is said to despise her former husband. Forbesmagazine's estimate that the Wolfe family collectively is worth more than $300 million may be conservative. Author John Gunther declared inInside Americathat Robert learned the shoemaking trade in prison. According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, the sale includes the suburban weeklies This Week Newspapers, Columbus Monthly and Capital Style among others. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The children of Michael, John F., Nancy, Dick and Bruce are still of school age. 2023 www.columbusmonthly.com. "Everyone," recalls the observer, "was horrified.". The family's business interests advanced with the century and the city. John F. Wolfe, chairman of The Dispatch Printing Company - parent company of WBNS-10TV - and formerly long-time publisher of The Columbus Dispatch, died today after a courageous, two-year. After the death of Robert in 1927 and Harry in 1946, the family business passed to their sons and grandsons. But on May 14, 1985-six days before Eddie's death-a distribution agreement signed by all four beneficiaries was delivered to the trustees. See Jeffrey Epstein. Appraised Value: $2,731,000if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'nothingbuthouse_com-mobile-leaderboard-1','ezslot_11',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-nothingbuthouse_com-mobile-leaderboard-1-0'); Mr. Walter is the founder and managing partner of Talisman Capital Parnters, a private equity firm. Of all the fourth-generation Wolfes (21 so far), John W.'s favorite seems to be Amy. Contact George M. Wolfe today for a Columbus Ohio attorney concentrating in real estate law and transactions. Unless Jane Scott is fiercely determined to insist on her day in court, a settlement may come fairly quickly. Persuaded Gov. John W. Wolfe, the Ohio Company's chairman, oversees all major family enterprises from his office in the BancOhio building at 155 E. Broad St. He now owns Aquatic Adventures in Hilliard. Good call! They're settled long before trial by the lawyers for the disputing parties. Eddie had executed his final will and amended his trust in April, 1985, about a month before his death. They have been so since the turn of the century, and probably will be so through the turn of the next. Between January and May, the Bank of California says, Eddie requested his share three times. Even the station's call letters, WBNS, stand for Wolfe Banks, News and Shoes, the original cornerstones of the family empire. "They never requested their names on anything.". Rumor had it that even though the Wolfes didn't own WTVN (Taft Broadcasting did), they had flexed their muscle to have him fired. The Columbus Dispatch was owned by the Wolfe family for 110 years, according to the article. Nadine Allen 's education, and in 1985 she became the first female black municipal in. As more liberal, more open and friendly-certainly more social died in 1957 the. Those children, over alimony and friendly-certainly more social n't let such opinions stand in the current isDispatchpublisher... 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