Over the course of his life, he became as much of a philanthropist as he was a businessman. He led a fund raising drive for the University of Southern California which raised over $2.85 billion, which when it concluded in 2003, was the most successful fund raising effort in higher education.
He and his wife, Elaine Otter, started Kenneth Leventhal & Company, in the second bedroom of their apartment in 1949. As he began to recruit partners, he pushed the firm to become business experts that specialized in real estate.
As their business grew, the firm moved to various locations in west Los Angeles until 1965, when it moved to Century City. The firm’s early clients included Ray Watt, and other real estate giants who were his clients and friends, Trammell Crow, William Lyon, and Montgomery Ross Fisher. In 1995, the firm merged with Ernst & Young, one of the largest public accounting firms in the world.
Consistent with its problem-solving approach, the firm from its very earliest days pioneered innovations that helped clients to save costs, operate more efficiently, or achieve other business objectives.
When some of its clients ran into financial difficulties during cyclical downturns in the economy and property markets, the firm began to assist them to reorganize outside of bankruptcy court. It built a reputation as a workout specialist, advising companies in complex reorganizations, including some of the biggest names in U.S. real estate, among them Donald Trump, hotel developer John Portman, and mall developer Edward DeBartolo.
It also advised the U.S. Resolution Trust Corporation in selling billions of dollars of assets of failed thrift institutions. As its reputation grew, the firm took on global assignments, advising international clients in restructuring and selling portfolios of distressed real estate and other assets.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Rose Belle Levinson and Julius Leventhal, the family moved to Los Angeles when he was 8 years old. He attended the local schools and graduated from Hollywood High School. After a hitch in the U.S. Army during World War II, the Airborne infantryman attended UCLA on the G.I Bill. There he met his wife, Elaine Otter, and in 1949, the pair founded Kenneth Leventhal & Company.
When asked why he became an accountant, he was happy to explain. When he was 9 years old, he sold newspapers at a street corner in Los Angeles. In talking with his boss, he learned that the boss planned to take a correspondence accounting course and go into business for himself.
All it took to get started was a pencil, his boss told him. “I figured that for a nickel, I could be my own boss,” Mr. Leventhal explained, “and I never changed my mind.”
Mr. Leventhal is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elaine Otter, his sons Robert and Ross (Mary Jo), granddaughter Emma, brother Henley, and a niece and nephews.
Services will be held on Thursday, May 10, 2 pm, Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California, 90068. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Elaine and Kenneth Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California.
Services will be held on Thursday, May 10, 2 pm, Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California, 90068. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Elaine and Kenneth Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California.
