Finn Michael Westby Caspersen Sr. (October 27, 1941 – September 7, 2009) was an American financier and philanthropist. A graduate of the Peddie School, Brown University and Harvard Law School, he was chairman and chief executive of Beneficial Corporation, one of the largest consumer finance companies in the United States. After an $8.6 billion acquisition of Beneficial by Household International in 1998, Caspersen ran Knickerbocker Management, a private financial firm overseeing the assets of trusts and foundations.
As a philanthropist, Caspersen donated tens of millions of dollars to the Peddie School, Brown, Harvard, and Drew University, while overseeing the Hodson Trust, which benefitted four institutions in Maryland. He described education as his "particular love" and regarded it as "an investment in the future—an investment in human capital."Harvard Law School, "Recent News and Spotlights: Finn M.W. Caspersen '66 (1941–2009)" (September 9, 2009). Retrieved October 28, 2013. Buildings and endowed professorships have been named in his honor. Caspersen's philanthropy extended to rowing and equestrian sports, and service to the United States Equestrian Team Foundation, Princeton National Rowing Association, and the National Rowing Foundation.
Caspersen was an influential donor to Republican candidates at the state and national level. In the 1980s, he was a major supporter of former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean. He served as a town commissioner in Jupiter Island, Florida, an exclusive upper-class enclave, for four years, resigning a few weeks before his death in September 2009. Following his death, news reports linked Caspersen with allegations of large-scale tax evasion.
Early life and education Caspersen was born on October 27, 1941, in New York City.Jankowski, Katherine E., and Sullivan, Gregory (editors), Taft Corporate Giving Directory: Comprehensive Profiles of America's Major Corporate Foundations and Corporate Charitable Giving Programs, (11th Edition – Taft Corporate Information Service, 1990), 74. He was one of two sons of Olaus Westby Caspersen (1896–1971), and Freda Resika (1909–1991) thought to be of Russian or Polish descent.Lovoll, Odd Sverre, The Promise Fulfilled: A Portrait of Norwegian Americans Today (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), 162–164. Olaus's widowed mother and siblings had emigrated to the United States earlier, leaving Olaus in Norway to complete his education. Olaus came to the United States in 1912 at age 16, settling in Weehawken, New Jersey.Cohan, William D., "The Shot Heard 'Round the Clubs", Vanity Fair, February 2010. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
Caspersen's mother, Freda, was a non-practicing Jew, and his father thought that his sons needed a religious upbringing. Finn attended a congregational church near the family home in his youth. He later reflected that "being Protestant was important. There was a kind of anti-Catholicism in the family." The family moved to homes in Andover, New Jersey, and Venice, Florida. Caspersen frequently visited Norway as a child, vacationing there during summers after 1947.
Caspersen attended private schools until the ninth grade. He attended the Peddie School, a private preparatory school in Hightstown, New Jersey, and was graduated in 1959.Peddie School, "Finn M. W. Caspersen, Peddie board chair, dies at 67" , September 11, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2013. Caspersen received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Brown University in 1963 and a law degree (LL.B.) from Harvard Law School in 1966.Harvard Law School, Alumni Awards. Quote: "Harvard Law School Association Award Recipients ... Finn M. W. Caspersen LL.B. 1966 Presented October 24, 2008; Cambridge, Massachusetts". Retrieved January 30, 2014.Fund Raiser's Guide to Private Fortunes (Washington, DC/Detroit, Michigan: Taft Group, 1988), 57, 391.
Career In 1972, Caspersen joined the legal department at Beneficial Corporation, a large American consumer finance firm. Four years later, he was named the firm's chief executive officer. Beneficial had been established in 1914 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, by Clarence Hodson. Caspersen's father, Olaus, joined Beneficial in 1920 and served as Hodson's secretary for several years.Browning, Lynnley, "Suicide Victim May Have Hidden Millions Abroad, The New York Times, September 15, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2013. In 1929, Hodson and Caspersen reorganized the firm as Beneficial Finance Corporation and transformed it into one of the largest consumer loan providers in the United States.Kepos, Paula, and Derdak, Thomas, International Directory of Company Histories (Chicago/Detroit: St. James Press, 1994) 8:56–58.Staff, "Freda Resika Caspersen, Executive, 82" (obituary), New York Times, May 1, 1991. Retrieved October 28, 2013. Freda Caspersen was one of the company's directors.
Under the younger Caspersen's leadership, Beneficial expanded into credit finance and offered credit cards through its People's Bank and Trust subsidiary. It purchased Parliament Leasing in 1977, and First Texas Financial Corp., a savings and loan firm, in 1978.Gordon, Mitchell, "Beneficial Corp. to Ring up Record High Net This Year," Barron's, October 30, 1978. In 1977, Beneficial entered the reinsurance business through subsidiaries, but these endeavors led to significant financial losses in the 1980s. Beneficial later downsized its reinsurance holdings and restructured to emphasize its second mortgage business.Hays, Laurie, "Reinsurance Woes Threatening Beneficial," September 2, 1986, and "Beneficial Bid to Sell Unit Faces Hurdles," The Wall Street Journal, January 19, 1987.Nathan, Leah J., "Beneficial Could Give Lending a Good Name Again," Business Week, October 22, 1990. According to Charles "Sandy" Hance, former senior vice president and general counsel of Beneficial, Caspersen was a "pioneer in second mortgages, which later evolved into home equity loans", and that he "saw this trend developing at a very early stage".Rispoli, Michael, "Finn Caspersen, former head of Beneficial Corp., is found dead in Rhode Island", The Star-Ledger, September 8, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
Caspersen purchased Harbour Island in Tampa, Florida, from a Beneficial subsidiary in 1979, and in 1983 began to re-develop the island into an upscale residential and commercial development similar to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.Staff, "Harbour Island developer dies in apparent suicide" , The Tampa Tribune, September 10, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2013. Beneficial purchased the 177-acre man-made island, formerly known as Seddon Island.Jeanne Wolfe, Tampa Real Estate, Neighborhoods of Tampa Florida: Harbour Island Homes . Retrieved December 22, 2013.Staff, "Finn Caspersen, developer of Tampa's Harbour Island, dead at 67", Tampa Bay Business Journal, September 10, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2013. Before it was developed, local newspapers described the Harbour Island as "an industrial wasteland inhabited by wild pigs" and the only structures as rusted railroad tracks and an unused phosphate facility. When the first phases were complete, the island opened with events hosted by former U.S. president Gerald Ford.Associated Press Staff, "Former president opens ritzy Tampa Development", Gainesville Sun, June 28, 1985, with picture of Ford and Caspersen. After seven years of dwindling business, Beneficial converted the development into office space, and renamed it Knights Point in 1995.Harbour Island People Mover. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
Caspersen ran Beneficial for 22 years before its 1998 acquisition by Household International for $8.6 billion.Bowley, Graham, "Finn Caspersen, Supporter of Many Causes, Dies at 67", The New York Times, September 9, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2013. At the time of the acquisition, Beneficial had 25,000 employees and operated 1,650 branch offices throughout the United States. Caspersen was paid $24 million in severance and other payments. His next business endeavor was Knickerbocker Management, which he founded in 1998 with a few partners. Knickerbocker, a private investment firm that oversaw approximately $1 billion in assets of trusts and foundations, had offices in Gladstone, New Jersey and Hobe Sound, Florida.Taber, George M., "Caspersen will manage nearly $1 billion", Business News New Jersey 11(27), July 20, 1998, 4.
Political activities Caspersen became an influential donor to state and federal Republican party candidates, including former New Jersey governors Thomas Kean and Christine Todd Whitman, and Kean's son Thomas Kean Jr., a state senator and candidate for United States Senator. Caspersen was a major supporter of Kean's two campaigns for governor in 1981 and 1985. When Kean was inaugurated in 1982, Caspersen, an avid equestrian, dressed in period costume and drove the incoming governor and his wife, as well as outgoing governor Brendan Byrne, to an inauguration party in a four-horse carriage. One writer described the scene as "something out of 'a Currier & Ives print. In 1998, Whitman appointed Caspersen to chair a 15-member advisory panel to recommend future development for Ellis Island, and to a public-private partnership to foster business in the state. According to Vanity Fair contributor William D. Cohan, left-wing magazine Mother Jones found that "Caspersen and his wife donated $602,250 to political campaigns, making them the eighth-largest political donors in the U.S." during the 2000 election cycle.Scherer, Michael, "Finn M.W. Caspersen (with Barbara) campaign donation profile", Mother Jones, March 5, 2001.
In 2005, Caspersen sought a seat on the town commission in Jupiter Island, Florida; his platform focused on conservation, limiting development, and burying utility cables.Turner, Jim, "Town May Take Part In Power Program", Sun-Sentinel, February 19, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2013. He served a four-year term and ran unopposed for re-election in 2009. He surprised his fellow commission members and neighbors by suddenly resigning on August 4, 2009, claiming that he anticipated moving from the community.
Philanthropy Caspersen served as a board member, president, and chairman of the United States Equestrian Team from 1982 to 2002. He was considered "the man who put American combined driving on the international map". During his 20-year tenure, American riders and drivers earned 71 medals, including 25 gold, in the Olympics, World Championships, and Pan American Games.Jaffer, Nancy, "Finn Caspersen, American Combined Driving Advocate, Dies", Equisearch, September 8, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2013. Caspersen helped the U.S. Equestrian Team establish a permanent home at Hamilton Farm, the former estate of U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady in Bedminster, New Jersey.Mascarenhas, Rohan, "Former N.J. power broker, philanthropist Finn Caspersen dies in apparent suicide", The Star-Ledger, September 9, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2013.Garreau, Joel, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier (New York: Random House, 2011), 33–34. The Hamilton Farm property was owned by Beneficial and was located next to the corporation's headquarters. Beneficial deeded the property to the team at Caspersen's urging.