Larry Tanenbaum
 |
Lawrence M. "Larry" Tanenbaum (born 1945 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian businessman and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). He owns a 20% stake in MLSE through his holding company Kilmer Sports Inc.[1]
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Cornell University in 1968.[2]
In recognition of his contributions in the areas of philanthropy, business and volunteerism, Larry Tanenbaum was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada on October 25, 2007. The Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada’s honors system and represents its highest civilian award.
Larry Tanenbaum was President & CEO of Kilmer Van Nostrand Co. Limited from 1968 to 2000, and is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Under his direction Kilmer developed into a multi-faceted construction operation with operating divisions and subsidiaries covering road building and paving, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, heavy construction, trucking and pipe manufacturing. The heavy construction operations included projects in Canada, the United States and South America and specialized in constructing subways, elevated transit system guideways, bridges and tunnels including the design-build of the Toronto Zoo elevated transit system, the elevated transit system in Miami and subways in Caracas, Atlanta, Calgary and Toronto. In 1984 this unit was merged with Canadian Foundation Company Ltd. which itself was later merged with Bannister International. From that time through December 2000 Kilmer’s road building, paving and aggregates operations were conducted through Kilmer’s wholly owned subsidiary, The Warren Paving & Materials Group Limited. he served as Chairman of Warren, which, until its merger with Lafarge North America, was Canada’s largest asphalt paving company with operations serving approximately 44 communities. Warren’s activities also included major commercial aggregates operations, liquid asphalt trading and distribution and road maintenance. In December 2000 Warren was merged into Lafarge North America Inc., North America’s largest diversified construction materials company and supplier of cement, aggregates and concrete, and other materials for residential, commercial, institutional and public works construction in the United States and Canada. As a result of this merger, Kilmer became a significant shareholder in Lafarge NA, and Mr. Tanenbaum served on the Board and chaired its Finance Committee until the 2006 buyout by Lafarge SA. Kilmer today manages infrastructure investments through Kilmer Brownfield Equity Fund LP, Quickload CEF Inc. and Host Kilmer Service Centres Inc.
From 1975 to 1994 Larry Tanenbaum served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of CUC Broadcasting Limited in which Kilmer was a significant shareholder. At the time of its sale in 1994 CUC was Canada’s fifth largest cable company. CUC was also a key participant in the introduction of cable television in the United Kingdom. Other operations included paging, publishing, satellite, and radio broadcasting.
He has had a long-standing interest in the sports and entertainment area and to that end in 1991 he spearheaded the effort to bring a NBA franchise to Toronto. In 1996 an interest was acquired in the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club and arena. In 1998 he was an active force in the acquisition of the Toronto Raptors basketball team and the Air Canada Centre, which, with the Toronto Maple Leafs, formed Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Limited. He is Chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Limited, and is a Governor of the NBA (Toronto Raptors), the NHL (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Major League Soccer (Toronto FC).
Kilmer also has significant investment in various sports-related entities, including Insight Sports Ltd, which is a leading sports media company involved in the creation, production and broadcasting, on all platforms, of sports and related lifestyle content. Insight Sports holds equity positions in several Canadian specialty television services including The NHL Network and Score Media and owns and/or operates the World Fishing Network (WFN) and Game TV. In 2003, through Plaza Gaming and Entertainment, Kilmer invested in the charitable gaming industry in Canada. Through its operations in Ontario and BC, Plaza's facilities raise over $20 million per year for local municipal charities.
In addition, he serves as Chairman of Kilmer Capital Partners, a private equity investment fund, which provides equity capital to small to mid-market companies, and is dedicated to building leading companies in partnership with management. Kilmer Capital’s portfolio includes Unisync Group Ltd., Algorithme Pharma Inc., Coalision, and Tribal Sportswear.
Larry Tanenbaum served as National Revenue Chair of the Liberal Party of Canada during Prime Minister Paul Martin’s term of office. He currently serves as a member of the Ontario Investment and Trade Advisory Council, and recently served on the Independent Fiscal Review Panel of the City of Toronto and the Mayor’s Economic Competitiveness Advisory Committee of the City of Toronto. He is a member of the Advisory Council, Toronto Board of Trade and is an Honourary Co-Chair of the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance.
His involvement in Community Associations includes the following: Vice-Chairman, Board of Directors, Mount Sinai Hospital – a tertiary care teaching hospital associated with the University of Toronto; Co-Chairman of the Research Committee for the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute; Member, Board of Directors, Brain Canada; Member, University Council, Cornell University; Member, Advisory Board, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; Member, Dean’s Advisory Council, Schulich School of Business, York University; Member, Board of Directors, Miller Thomson Foundation; Founding Member, Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, Executive Committee, UJA Federation, and Co-Chair, United Jewish Appeal (1998).
Tanenbaum has recently submitted an offer to become the new owner of Nottingham Forest Football Club, an NPower Championship side that was left ownerless after the tragic death of their owner; Nigel Doughty, midway through the 2011/2012 season. However, during the early summer months of 2012 he has been widely rumoured to be attempting to buy Leeds United Football Club from Monaco based business man Kenneth Bates.[Citation needed]
He is married with two daughters and one son.