Morris W. Offit

Morris W. Offit
Born
Baltimore, MD
EducationJohns Hopkins University (BA)
University of Pennsylvania (MBA)
Occupations
  • Businessman
  • banker

Morris Wolf Offit is an American financier and philanthropist. He founded OFFITBANK, a private wealth management firm that merged with Wachovia in 1999,[1] and later served in senior roles at Salomon Brothers, Julius Baer, and AIG. An alumnus of Johns Hopkins University, Offit led the university's successful 1980s capital campaign and chaired the Board of Trustees from 1990 to 1996. At the conclusion of his tenure as chairman of the board, Johns Hopkins awarded Offit an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.[2] He is the namesake of Johns Hopkins' Bernstein-Offit Building, as well as the Morris W. Offit Chair in International Finance in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.[3]

Early life and education

Offit is the son of Michael Offit and Rhea Offit (née Wolf).[4] He received a Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University in 1957.[2] He subsequently earned a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[2] He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.[5]

Career

Early career

Offit began his career in 1960 in investment research at Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company in Baltimore.[2] In 1968, he joined Salomon Brothers in New York as a general partner, a position he held for approximately a decade. There he established the firm's Stock Research Department and subsequently took on responsibility for its fixed income and equity sales operations.[2] From 1980 to 1982, he served as President of Julius Baer Securities Inc.

In 1983, Offit founded Offit Associates Inc., an investment advisory firm in Manhattan, and that same year served as an adjunct professor of finance at Columbia Business School, lecturing on the secondary capital markets.[2]

OFFITBANK

In July 1990, Offit converted Offit Associates into OFFITBANK, a private bank specializing in wealth management services for high-net-worth clients, with Offit serving as chief executive officer.[6] In 1999, OFFITBANK was acquired by Wachovia Bank.[5] Following the merger, Offit served on Wachovia's board of directors,[7] but departed in 2002 in opposition to First Union's takeover bid for Wachovia.[8]

Offit Hall Capital Management and Offit Capital Advisors

In early 2002, Offit collaborated with San Francisco-based wealth management firm Laurel Management to form Offit Hall Capital Management LLC, with Offit serving as co-chief executive officer.[8] In July 2007, the Offit family parted company with Offit Hall (subsequently renamed Hall Capital Partners) and co-founded Offit Capital Advisors LLC, a New York-based private investment advisory firm.[8][9] Offit serves as the firm's chairman and managing member; his son Ned S. Offit serves as chief executive officer.[8] From May 2005 to May 2013, Offit served as a director of American International Group (AIG), including as chairman of the Finance and Risk Management Committee.[10]

Civic roles

Offit has had extensive philanthropic involvement with Johns Hopkins University. During the 1980s he chaired the Campaign for Johns Hopkins.[11] In 1996, upon stepping down as board chairman, he received an honorary doctorate from the university.[11] He also endowed the Morris W. Offit Chair in International Finance at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and his name is attached to the Bernstein-Offit Building in Washington, D.C.[12]

Offit, a supporter of the Two state solution in Israel,[13] served as President and Chairman of UJA-Federation of New York from 2001 to 2007.[2] He chaired the board of the Jewish Museum from 1987 to 1991,[2] and has served as a trustee of the New-York Historical Society, the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, WNET (public broadcasting), Columbia University Teachers College, Union Theological Seminary, and the American Jewish Committee.[5][11]

In 1998, Offit was honored as Philanthropist of the Year by the Greater New York Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, in recognition of his leadership at Johns Hopkins and his service to civic, religious, educational, and preservationist organizations in the New York area.[11] In 2017, he was honored as a gala honoree by The New Jewish Home's Eight over Eighty celebration.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Morris W. Offit". SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Morris W. Offit". SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  3. ^ "Morris W. Offit Chair in International Finance".
  4. ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths — Offit, Rhea W." The New York Times. December 31, 1997.
  5. ^ a b c "Morris W. Offit — Executive Profile". Equilar ExecAtlas. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  6. ^ "Morris Offit's New Firm Makes Todd Petzel Its CIO". Family Wealth Report. October 2007. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  7. ^ "OFFITBANK, A Leading Wealth Management Company, to Merge With Wachovia". Wachovia. Archived from the original on November 20, 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d "Morris Offit's New Firm Makes Todd Petzel Its CIO". Family Wealth Report. October 2007. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  9. ^ "Morris W. Offit, M.B.A., L.H.D." Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  10. ^ "Morris Offit". The Org. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  11. ^ a b c d "Morris W. Offit Chair in International Finance". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  12. ^ "Philanthropy: A Fruitful Friendship". Johns Hopkins Medicine. June 2021. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
  13. ^ Israel Policy Forum: "negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on two states for two peoples" Archived 2015-08-27 at the Wayback Machine February 12, 2014
  14. ^ "The New Jewish Home Celebrates 8 Remarkable Over 80". The Jewish Post. 2017.


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