Randy Lerner

Randy Lerner
Born	Randolph David Lerner (1962-02-21) February 21, 1962 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Columbia University Columbia Law School
Occupation	Owner of MBNA Corporation
Net worth	US$1.1 billion (August 2016)[1]
Children	4
Parent(s)	Al Lerner Nancy Wolkoff

Randolph David "Randy" Lerner (born February 21, 1962) is an American investor and sports-team owner. He became the majority owner of the American football team, the Cleveland Browns, of the National Football League, upon the death of his father Alfred "Al" Lerner in October 2002. In August 2012, he sold the team. Lerner became the owner and chairman of English club Aston Villa F.C. of the Premier League in 2006, subsequently Lerner sold the club in 2016 following their relegation. His personal fortune has been estimated at over US$ 1.09 billion.^[1]

Early life

Lerner graduated from Columbia University in 1984, spending 1983 at Clare College in Cambridge, England. He graduated from Columbia Law School and is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bar Associations. He has worked as a lawyer in New York City.

Business career

Lerner began working as an investment analyst at automobile insurers Progressive Corporation. In 1991, he started an independent investment firm with Progressive capital called Securities Advisors, Inc. (SAI), which he owned and managed until 2001. SAI initially specialized in arbitrage before shifting its focus to equity investing.

His father, Alfred "Al" Lerner, had been appointed chairman of MBNA Corporation after investing US$ 800 million in the initial public offering (IPO) of the company. In 1993, Randy Lerner became a director at MBNA. Upon the death of his father on October 23, 2002, he became MBNA's chairman. On January 1, 2006, Bank of America acquired MBNA Corporation for US$ 35 billion.

Sports team ownership

Lerner (right), along with general manager Mike Holmgren, observing a Cleveland Browns practice session (2012)

Cleveland Browns

When his father, Al Lerner, died in October 2002 – four years to the day after he was awarded the new Browns franchise - the ownership of the team passed on to Lerner. Lerner served as a member of the National Football League's Business Ventures Committee. In 2012, Lerner sold the team to businessman Jimmy Haslam.^[2][3]

Aston Villa F.C.

During his time at Cambridge, Lerner followed English football (soccer), taking an interest in three teams: Arsenal, Fulham and Aston Villa. Although he had grown up in the United States, with a father who had been involved with the Cleveland Browns franchise under Art Modell, Lerner's interest in England's top flight endured long after he had returned to the States.

On 24 July 2006, it was reported that Lerner intended to purchase Premier League club Aston Villa, following a statement from Cleveland Browns management indicating that Lerner was pursuing "business interests" in the United Kingdom. Lerner pulled out of the bid to buy Aston Villa two days later after talks with club chairman Doug Ellis broke down, but the following day, reports emerged that Lerner was still considering a formal GB£ 64-million bid for the club.

On 14 August 2006, it was confirmed Lerner had reached a GB£ 62.6 million agreement with Aston Villa to take over the club. The statement to the London Stock Exchange confirmed that 60% of the club's shares, including the 39% stake of Doug Ellis had been sold to Lerner, beating competition from consortia led by Michael Neville, Nicholas Padfield QC, and Athole Still. Eleven days after the announcement, the LSE confirmed that Lerner had secured 59.69% of Villa shares, making him the majority shareholder. Lerner appointed himself Chairman of the Board of the club.

The BBC reported on 5 September 2006 that Lerner had now moved closer to taking full control of the club, after increasing his share to 85.5%.^[4]

By the time that the deadline passed on 18 September 2006, Lerner had secured the acceptance of 89.69% of the shareholders. Due to the acceptance only being 0.31% below the conditional limit, Lerner accepted it and made the bid unconditional. On September 19, 2006 Aston Villa PLC executive Chairman Doug Ellis and his board resigned, and were replaced by Randy Lerner as Chairman with General Charles C. Krulak, Bob Kain and Michael Martin serving as non-executive directors. At the close of the deal in 2006, Lerner became only the second American owner of a Premiership club.

In June 2011, Lerner appointed manager Alex McLeish, who was previously working from local rivals Birmingham City. McLeish's contract was terminated at the end of the 2011–12 season after Villa finished in 16th place, just above the relegation zone.^[5] On 2 July 2012, Aston Villa confirmed the appointment of former Norwich City manager Paul Lambert.^[6]

On 28 February 2012, the club announced a financial loss of £53.9 million.^[7] Lerner put the club up for sale on 12 May 2014, with an estimated value of £200 million.^[8]

Manager Lambert was sacked on 11 February 2015^[9] and replaced by Tim Sherwood,^[10] who saved Villa from relegation in the 2014/15 season and took them to the 2015 FA Cup Final.^[11][12] Sherwood was sacked on 15 October 2015, after six consecutive league losses,^[13] with Kevin MacDonald taking over as interim manager. On 2 November 2015, Frenchman Rémi Garde agreed a three-and-a-half year deal to become the manager^[14] and was sacked after 147 days.^[15]

On 18 April 2016, two members of Villa's Board of Directors, former Football Association chairman David Bernstein and Lord King submitted their resignations to Villa Chairman Steve Hollis.^[16] Their resignation was due to them being "increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress they were able to make" at the club.^[17] There had also occurred, reportedly, a "hostile interaction" between them and owner Randy Lerner.^[17]

On 18 May 2016, Lerner sold Aston Villa to Chinese businessman Dr. Tony Xia and his Recon Group following Villa's relegation to the Football League Championship. Many Aston Villa supporters, legends and former players put the blame solely on Lerner for being inactive and failing to invest significantly since the departure of manager Martin O'Neill in 2010 and also selling their best players.^[18]

Philanthropy

Randy Lerner has supported the National Portrait Gallery since 2002. On January 23, 2008, it was announced that Lerner had donated GB£ 5 million to the gallery, the largest single donation it has ever received. In recognition, the ground floor galleries were named "The Lerner Galleries".^[19]

For the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons, Aston Villa forwent traditional shirt sponsorship by instead wearing on their shirts the name of a local children's hospice, Acorns. For the 2010/2011 season, this sponsor was replaced by corporate sponsor FxPro, but the club continued to promote Acorns on all children's kits as the club's official charity partner.^[20]

Lerner has provided a "substantial" gift to Clare College, Cambridge to fund the building of a new block of residential student accommodation, named "Lerner Court."

Personal life

Lerner has a house in Amagansett, New York where he owns the Community Square shopping complex as well as the Meeting House Restaurant in the complex.^[21] The Wall Street Journal reported that, between 2007 and 2011, Cleveland Browns Transportation was the most frequent flyer in and out of East Hampton Airport.^[22]

References