Ken Behring
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Kenneth Eugene Behring (born June 13, 1928<ref name="chuckles">June 13, 2004 R-ish Joke (English). Jest-A-Day Journal (2004-06-13). Retrieved on 2006-08-09.</ref> in Freeport, Illinois) is a real estate developer, former owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team, and philanthropist.
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[edit] Early years
Ken Behring was born in Freeport, Illinois. His family moved to Monroe, Wisconsin when he was four. He grew up in poverty; his father worked in a lumberyard, and his mother cleaned houses. Ken started working a variety of jobs around town starting at age seven: mowing lawns, caddying, transporting milk, selling newspapers, working at a grocery store and at a lumberyard. He became a salesperson at Montgomery Ward at age 16, and started a side business selling sporting good in town. Behring attended Monroe High School in Monroe, Wisconsin. A high school football player, he received a partial football scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but dropped out of college due to an injury that left him unable to play football, and therefore ineligible for his scholarship.<ref name="horatioalger">Kenneth E. Behring (English). The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.</ref><ref name="museumnews-2000-09-25">O'Brien, Allie J. (2000-09-25). Largest Donation Ever to a U.S. Museum (English). MuseumNetwork.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.</ref>
[edit] Career
Out of college, Behring, a car buff, worked as a salesperson at a Chevrolet and Chrysler auto dealerships. At age 21, he started a used car business called Behring Motors in Monroe, Wisconsin.<ref name="horatioalger"/> He went on to own Car-a-Mat, a chain of car washes.<ref name="mad">Kyle, Robert. "Butterfield's to Sell Guns to Buy Wheelchairs", Maine Antique Digest, 2000-09. Retrieved on 2006-08-10. (in English)</ref> A savvy businessman, he was earning $50,000 a year and had $1 million in assets by age 27.<ref name="trivalleyherald-2006-07-10">Semmes, Ben. "Ken Behring a local legend", Tri-Valley Herald, 2006-07-10. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. (in English)</ref>
Ken Behring moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1956 (at age 28), where he established the Behring Construction Company. He became a land developer, founding a new retirement community in the city of Tamarac, Florida ("Car-a-Mat" spelled backwards).<ref name="horatioalger"/> The new city was incorporated on July 25, 1963, built on an area that was formerly wetlands, pastures, and fields. According to Jack Leff, a former member of the City of Tamarac's Public Information Board, Ken Behring "envisioned a retirement community living in reasonably priced homes. He offered a home with lots of land and practically no maintenance for the homeowner. Thus was born a new concept for gracious adult living."<ref name="tamarac-budget-2006">Adopted Budget, Fiscal Year 2006 (English) (PDF). City Commission, Tamarac, Florida (2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-28.</ref>
Behring's company eventually became the largest builder of single-family homes in Florida<ref name="nmah-pr-2000">Smithsonian Institution Announces Biggest Single Donation in its 154-year History (English). Smithsonian National Museum of American History (2000-09-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-09.</ref>, and the tenth largest in the United States.<ref name="horatioalger"/>
In 1972, Ken Behring moved to the San Francisco Bay Area<ref name="carconnection">Mike Davis (2000-11-27). Museum Hawk: The Blackhawk (English). The Car Connection.com. DA Acquisitions Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.</ref>, where he was involved in developing the country club at Blackhawk, California, and later, the Canyon Lakes Development in San Ramon, California.<ref name="carconnection"/><ref name="blackhawkservices">Blackhawk Services. Kenneth E. Behring (English). Archived from the original on 2005-02-13. Retrieved on 2006-02-11.</ref>
In 1988, Behring and partner Ken Hofmann purchased the NFL's Seattle Seahawks football team for $79 or $99 million (both numbers have been reported).<ref name="trivalleyherald-2006-07-10"/><ref name="seattlepi-moneyinsports">Seattle's Own (English) (PDF). Seattle Post-Intelligencer (2002). Retrieved on 2006-08-13.</ref> They transferred the team's operations to Anaheim, California in 1996, a widely criticized move. They sold the team to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 1997, for $200 million.<ref name="seattlepi-moneyinsports"/>
Ken Behring has been listed several times on the annual Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, including 1991<ref name="namebase">Kenneth Eugene Behring (English). NameBase. Public Information Research, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-02-13.</ref>, 1995<ref name="namebase"/>, and 1997<ref name="mad"/>. In 1997, his last year on the list<ref name="forbes-1988-nearmisses">"Near Misses", Forbes, 1998-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</ref>, he ranked #395, with an estimated net worth of $495 million.<ref name="mad"/>
In 2004, Behring published a memoir called Road to Purpose: One Man's Journey Bringing Hope to Millions and Finding Purpose Along the Way (ISBN 0-9761912-0-2).<ref name="wheelchair-book">Road To Purpose By Kenneth E. Behring (English). www.wheelchairfoundation.org. Wheelchair Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.</ref>
Behring was made a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans in 2006.<ref name="horatioalger-pr">Kenneth E. Behring Recognized with the Horatio Alger Award For Overcoming Adversity to Achieve Success (English). The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.</ref>
[edit] Family
Ken Behring married his wife Patricia (Pat) at age 21. They have five sons, and as of 2005, ten grandchildren.<ref name="waterleaders-bio">Kenneth E. Behring Biography (English). www.waterleaders.org. WaterLeaders Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.</ref>
[edit] Philanthrophy
Ken Behring was involved in founding the Blackhawk Museum (originally the Blackhawk Automotive Museum) in 1988.<ref name="carconnection"/>
Behring pledged $20 million to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in 1997, endowing the museum's new Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals. He pledged another $80 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 2000; the museum renamed its main facility the "Behring Center" in his honor.<ref name="nmah-pr-2000"/> MuseumNews called it "purportedly the largest cash donation ever to be given to a U.S. museum by a living person,"<ref name="museumnews-2000-09-25"/> and Behring was given the Smithsonian's James Smithson Award for his contributions.<ref name="wheelchair-bio">Kenneth E. Behring - Biography (English). www.wheelchairfoundation.org. Wheelchair Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.</ref>
In 2000, Behring donated $7.5 million to expand the University of California, Berkeley's Principal Leadership Institute; the newly established Kenneth E. Behring Center for Educational Improvement focused on training programs for public school principals.<ref name="slate-2001-01-22">"The 2000 Slate 60: The 60 largest American charitable contributions of 2000", Slate, 2001-01-22. Retrieved on 2006-08-13. (in English)</ref><ref name="berkeleyan-2000-08-16">"New program to prepare principals for California's urban schools gets $7.5 million gift from Bay Area philanthropist", Berkeleyan, UC Berkeley, 2000-08-16. Retrieved on 2006-08-13. (in English)</ref> UC Berkeley awarded him a Chancellor's Citation in 2001.<ref name="ucberkeley-chancellors-citation">University of California, Berkeley The Chancellor's Citation List of Recipients As of 11/14/2005 (English). University of California, Berkeley Awards Program. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.</ref>
Behring founded the Wheelchair Foundation in Blackhawk, California in 2000, to provide free wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities in developing nations unable to afford one.<ref name="wheelchair-bio"/>
In 2005, Behring founded the WaterLeaders Foundation, a nonprofit working to support safe drinking water around the world.<ref name="waterleaders-letter">Founder's Message (English). www.waterleaders.org. WaterLeaders Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.</ref>
[edit] Controversies
[edit] Sexual harassment
A 1999 story in Seattle Weekly reported that "Behring...settled several sex harassment claims in recent years."<ref name="seattleweekly-1999-06-16">Anderson, Rick. "Paul Allen's Tinsel Town Nightmare", Seattle Weekly, 1999-06-16. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</ref> The most prominent of these cases was the 1996 allegation by former employee Patricia Parker that she had been sexually harassed over the course of two years, and assaulted at a New Year's Day event.<ref name="seattleweekly-1999-06-16"/><ref name="usatoday-1999-03-01">"Workplace sexual harassment knows no rank", USA Today, 1999-03-01. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</ref> The New York Times reported that Parker "accused Behring of making advances, asking her to pick up his prescription sex-enhancing drugs and requiring she keep waivers on hand for his potential sex partners to sign away their rights to demand money of him."<ref name="nytimes-1996-08-14">"Harassment Case Settled", New York Times, 1996-08-14. Retrieved on 2006-08-14. (in English)</ref> Behring denied the charges<ref name="usatoday-1999-03-01"/>, and the case was settled out of court in 1996.<ref name="nytimes-1996-08-14"/>
[edit] Hunting
Ken Behring started hunting as a young boy, to help provide food for his family.<ref name="horatioalger"/> He became an avid big-game hunter as an adult, and a president of hunting organization Safari Club International.<ref name="endangered-species-handbook">Animal Welfare Institute (2005). Persecution and Hunting: Illegalities (English). Endangered Species Handbook. Retrieved on 2006-08-08.</ref> He has made multiple safari trips to East Africa<ref name="guns-mag">Murphy, Tom. "GUNS at Auction: The .700 NE H&H DOUBLE", Guns Magazine, 2001-04. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. (in English)</ref>, and has shot lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, an elephant, and an endangered bighorn sheep.<ref name="archealogy">"Kenneth Behring", Archealogy, Archaeological Institute of America, 2002-09-19. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. (in English)</ref> Behring has been criticized for his trophy hunting practices and animal conversation ethics.
In 1997, Behring shot an endangered KaraTau argali sheep in Kazakhstan (only 100 remained in the world at the time); the animal could not be legally imported into the United States.<ref name="endangered-species-handbook"/> He donated $20 million to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History six weeks later, offering his private collection of stuffed hunting trophies to the museum, including four rare bighorn sheep, one of which was the KaraTau argali sheep.<ref name="abcnews">Ross, Brian. "PrimeTime: Killing Rare Animals", ABCNEWS.com, 2001-04-20. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. (in English)</ref> The Smithsonian attempted to import the remains by petitioning the Department of the Interior for an Endangered Species Act waiver, but withdrew its request after questioning and negative publicity from Representative George Miller and groups like the Humane Society of the United States.<ref name="usatoday">Gottwald, Linda. "How to Bag Your Own Endangered Species", USA Today, 2000-02-03. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. (in English)</ref><ref name="hsus">Satchell, Michael. A View to a Kill: How Safari Club Int'l Works to Weaken ESA Protections (English). The Humane Society of the United States. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.</ref> Behring maintained that he had broken no laws, and had shot the animal legally while assisting Kazakh scientists<ref name="archealogy"/><ref name="nytimes-1999-03-17">Golden, Tim. "Big-Game Hunter's Gift Roils the Smithsonian", New York Times, 1999-03-17, p. A14. (in English)</ref>.
In 1998, Behring shot and killed an elephant in Mozambique, where the sport killing of elephants was banned in 1990. His hunting companions killed two more elephants. Local investigators reported that the group used a helicopter during the hunt, which "drove the elephants onto their guns" -- a charge they denied. Behring's lawyer produced a permit from a Mozambique provincial governor authorizing the hunting of a lion, leopard, and buffalo, with a handwritten addition noting "problem elephants," the only exception to the national ban on the killing of elephants. The then-director of the game reserve near where the elephants had been killed was skeptical, telling ABC News PrimeTime "They came in there and bankrolled an operation to take out some big elephant, and it is wrong. And nobody, nobody can condone what happened."<ref name="abcnews"/>
[edit] See also
- Seattle Seahawks: includes discussion of Behring's ownership of team
- Blackhawk, California: discusses Behring's development plans, and community opposition
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Behring, Kenneth E. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Behring, Ken; Behring, Kenneth |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American real estate developer, former owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team, and philanthropist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 13, 1928 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Freeport, Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
