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FEBRUARY 9, 2004
Dynasty In Distress [Page 5 of 5] OOHING AND AAHING There are no raised eyebrows when it comes to his pet charity, Homes for the Homeless, which he started in 1985. Leonard says he donates money and "a big chunk of time" to it. Allison, a formidable player on Manhattan's social circuit, is a trustee and vice-chairman of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the parent of the Bronx Zoo. She hosts the society's annual fund-raising bash, held this past fall at the Central Park Zoo. His children are not in the social scene. Leonard says they are devoted to their families and jobs. "I always wanted my children to go to bed at night and feel tired and good about what they did." His daughter, Andrea C., 36, is a photographer. A little over a year ago, Leonard and Allison hosted an evening Hudson River cruise on their 152-foot yacht, Lady Allison. About 50 guests attended -- names that fill the society columns. Some of the guests assembled on one side of the boat where Leonard began conducting an impromptu tour of the Stern's vast New Jersey landholdings. "Unlike a lot of moguls, Leonard has his feet on the ground," says David Patrick Columbia, editor of NYSocialDiary.com. Still, he says, "this was an awesome show of how powerful the family is. People were oohing and aahing." Of course, those were halcyon days -- before the Sterns lost the mammoth Meadowlands deal and before the mutual-fund scandal. Today, Eddie is still cooperating with Spitzer's office. "We continue to be surprised by the depth and breadth of this scandal as well as the amount of money that is involved," says David D. Brown IV, chief of the investment-protection bureau for the New York Attorney General. Eddie faces several civil suits and a class action filed by fund investors. As for Manny, his fight for the Meadowlands property may be futile, unless there's a surprise ruling in his favor in his upcoming court case. Whatever happens, says Wilbur Ross, the Sterns will get past this. "Leonard is an incredibly smart decision maker," he says. Leonard remains undaunted: "People who get a reputation for being tough are those who succeed. When you fail, you get pity." Speaking of tough, whatever happened to that "got them by the balls" sign? Leonard says he can't remember, exactly. But it's not around anymore. Almost 20 years ago, when a BusinessWeek writer asked him that same question, he replied: "Oh that. I gave it to my son."
 By Marcia Vickers With Susann Rutledge in New York Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
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