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A Mogul Steps Down (Herald) 4-15-739 t ,S� ". MacArthur Walks Through Colo xa.na des Hotel, on Riviera Beach. bought Banker's .Life ,for $2,500; assets now put at $500 million. 4 e c, 7*- jqq MW 2 AN W 4 I)OW/ g By GEORGIA MARTINEZ Herald Staff Writer For the last 50 year - s John IT'S ESTIMATED he owns Donald MacArthur has arisen roughly one third.: of the at 5 a.m. to go about the county, by the tax assessor's business .of making money. office. Business has paid off, mak- Now in his 76th year, Mae- ing MacArthur one � of the richest men in the country Arthur, says he's slowing down., and with estimates, of his wealth some morning sleeps in until 6 a.m.'. His ranging from $700 million to sec - retary, Who used to check in $.I billion, The son of a- dirt farmer for work at 7 a.m., now cones in- at'8 a.m. From time turned -evangelist, MacArthur to time he refers to himself built a financial empire by as "'the old man" and say s selling insurance. and build- he's "ng to start actin "going 9 ing Banker's Life and Casual- tyCorp. of Chicago which he Icy age and taking it easy. owns and which has assets "It's like I had an alarm estimated at $5.00 million. In clock in my belly and it went addition, he wholly Owns off at 5 a.m for 50 years," he other insurance !Companies,,- about a dozen hotels, includ- says. "Now . I'm*spending more time ing the Biltmore in Palm in bed, but I don't think I sleep anymore. They Beach and the Colonnades' say when You get older you Hotel on Singer Island where need less sleep.'" he lives, and the PGA Golf During the day. he goes Course. He controls Royal over the, mail, dictates and American Industries and keeps tabs on his financial Southern Realty & Utilities, empire* "You'd be amazed both.listed on the American how much work can be done Stock Exchange. 'on the telephone," he says. He's -the biggest landowner in Florida and owns large tracts of land* in Arizona,. Texas) California and Michi* gan. .John IacA'�thurLife'sSheds a .ROUtine rrha-ts irouivlat Ba llion --Azad Headaclies NEXT 'WEEK, representa- tives of one of his New York companies are coming down for meetings. "I'll have, to meet with them and hand- shake the boys and tell them what a good job they're' doing," MacArthur says. "But this, too, shall end,"'he says. Possibly as a step in reduc- ing his work * load and also because, of his disaffection with Florida conservationists and politi ' cian's.% MacArthur has announced he's going to begin liquidating his vast Florida holdings "one - parcel at a time, in an orderly fashion.,, As the first step he an- nounced the sale of WEAT TV (Channel 12) for an. -un- disclosed sum. MacArthur claims "fa . nat- ics" have made it "Popular to kick MacArthur around. ]BUILT Palm Beach G a r d e.n s (the , city he developed). without taking down one tree when it was Popular to bulldoze and level the land," he says. On the PGA I . changed the fairways to protect the trees. I was a 4conservatio,nist before they ,were all born. Now all of a isudden I'm a spoiler," says MacArth ur Whose new developments 'in. the north. end of the county have provoked conservationists. He's been charged with a misdemeanor violation of state dredge and fill laws in connection with his north county development and 'has ;b e e n battling in federal courts for several years for the right to develop his Mun- yon Island property.'He is op- posed by North Palm Beach, the U.S--�Corps of Engineers, and the State Cabinet. "I dont like some smart alec that doesn't own a 25 foot lot telling me to build one house on five acres or not to build at all because it will ruin the 'beauty of the wilderness. It just doesn't go down very good. I believe in zoning, and respect for my neighbors but the pendulum has swung too far. "'Florida is so bad because alt has so many retirees run- ning around with nothing to tla but gang up on -.--the legis- Sunday, 15 1 5 1973 lators. ' People come down here from New York and New -Jersey. The government furnishes them with an old age insurance. Of course my, company would have donea twice better job and. at . a cheaper rate, and I think it's fine. But I wish to: hellthey'd provide them with something to do so that they wouldn't 'have to go to ecology meet- ings all the time.. "PEOPLE as they grow o I d e r shouldn't just sit around and die. We should find something, for them to do or.they should find some- th,il'ng to do with -themselves. God, time must drag on their hands. MacArthur came to Florida about 15 years ago to retire — MacArthur style — after - some loans he'd made on Florida, land, deals went into default. The loansran'-, into 0 -the millio'n-s andI wa'. � due fo'r N M-1 .... ...... retirement so I said, hell, I'll go to Florida and look after this myself." For MacArthur, retirement to Florida was a chance to make more money and he ended up with title to large Aracts of land in Lake Park, North Palm Be"ach and Palm e Beach Gardens.among his Florida holdings. GRADUALLY he began spending more time in Flori- ."da. Since the late 50's he had lived here year round al- though he's still a legal resi— dent of Illinois. Borh* Match 6,__ 18'97,, in Pittstown, Pa., MacArthur was one of seven childrien and the youngest son of William Telfer MacArthur, a Scotsman who farmed for a while then turned evangelist. -Despite humble 'beginnings MacArthur and his three 'brothers each carved, their own mark. Alfred MacArthur, the old- est, went into the insurance 1business, became ''presidefit .of his own .company and in- troduced John to the busi- ness. At his death it was re-, ported Alfred; leftan estate of $175 million. TELFER, another brothe', r ran a chain of 'suburban newspapers in the Chicago area. Charles became a fa- mous newspaper reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winning ,playwright - who married -actress Helen :Hayes. John, who went . 'to 'school ,only, through the- eighth grade, worked at odd , jobs and at '17 ' started* , Selling in- surance door to door. When World War I broke Turn to I Page 6B. -Col. 1 retirement so I said, hell, I'll go to Florida and look after this myself." For MacArthur, retirement to Florida was a chance to make more money and he ended up with title to large Aracts of land in Lake Park, North Palm Be"ach and Palm e Beach Gardens.among his Florida holdings. GRADUALLY he began spending more time in Flori- ."da. Since the late 50's he had lived here year round al- though he's still a legal resi— dent of Illinois. Borh* Match 6,__ 18'97,, in Pittstown, Pa., MacArthur was one of seven childrien and the youngest son of William Telfer MacArthur, a Scotsman who farmed for a while then turned evangelist. -Despite humble 'beginnings MacArthur and his three 'brothers each carved, their own mark. Alfred MacArthur, the old- est, went into the insurance 1business, became ''presidefit .of his own .company and in- troduced John to the busi- ness. At his death it was re-, ported Alfred; leftan estate of $175 million. TELFER, another brothe', r ran a chain of 'suburban newspapers in the Chicago area. Charles became a fa- mous newspaper reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winning ,playwright - who married -actress Helen :Hayes. John, who went . 'to 'school ,only, through the- eighth grade, worked at odd , jobs and at '17 ' started* , Selling in- surance door to door. When World War I broke Turn to I Page 6B. -Col. 1 erty MacArthur To Sell Area Proper Continued from Page Al — Agreed to negotiate with the state "on a dollar basis, not a gift basis" for sale of the undeveloped oceanfront at the north end of Singer Island which has been viewed as a potential state park. — Expressed an interest in selling The Biltmore in Palm Beach only to someone who will retain it as a landmark. "I don't want anyone to tear it down and build condomi-, niums," he said. As the 76 -year-old MacAr- thur f aced a battery of news- men, he indicated a strong de- sire to get out from under the pressures of being one of the wealthiest men in the world. "It's obvious I've reached the twilight of my years," said the man who is labeled a bil- lionaire but never attended high school. "I want to become less. in- volved. I'm getting to old to `rassle,' " he said. However, MacArthur indi- cated he only will relinquish his properties to someone he now getting my estate in holdings in Texas exceed those feels "can do the job." shape." he has in Florida. "I'm no'- going to hold a fire sale," he emphasized. MacArthur said 90 per cent or maybe 89 per cent depend- ing on the fluctuation of the stock market" of his holdings are in a f oundation and will be administered by corporate trustees in the event of his death. Much of MacArthur's hold- ings stem from his Bankers Life and Casualty Co., the sec- ond largest accident and health insurance company in the world which has its corpo- rate offices in Chicago where MacArthur still claims his le- gal residence. MacArthur said he is not a registered voter in Florida. "I'm 30 stays into my 77th "I'm just a tourist here who year," he s, -!.id. "I feel a lot of happened to make a few in - these things have to be settled vestments," he said. while the old man's around. ,d oma time He said, for example, his His former and present in- vestments in this area include most of the land which now composes the Village of North Palm Beach and the town of Lake Park; the land now mak- ing up the city of Palm Beach Gardens; the Colonnades and Colonnades Yacht Club here, The Biltmore in Palm Beach, and another hotel in the Baha- mas; numerous utility plants; other land holdings in Martin County and other sections of the state, all of which have been estimated to total about I m gong to spen s 200,000 acres.