ken langone

Kenneth Langone, (born c. 1935) Venture Capitalist, and investment banker and financial backer of The Home Depot, is a former director of the New York Stock Exchange. He was elected as director of Yum! Brands effective October 7, 1997, and is a member of the Audit Committee. Langone holds an M.B.A. from and is also a trustee of New York University.

Kenneth Langone was born in Roslyn Heights, New York to working-class parents; his father was a plumber and his mother a cafeteria worker. As a boy, Langone witnessed his parents' labor firsthand and the imprint stuck with him his entire life. As a student at Bucknell University, Langone worked various blue collar jobs as a butcher's assistant, a caddy and a ditch digger. While at Bucknell, Langone became a member of Sigma Chi. After graduating in three and a half years, Langone headed back to New York, this time to Manhattan instead of Roslyn Heights. While working full-time during the day, Langone attended New York University Stern School of Business at night. That part-time evening program now bears his name, and is known as the "Langone Program" at NYU.

Following his NYU graduation, Langone began his business career. His launching pad was the IPO deal he set up for Ross Perot's company Electronic Data Systems.

Building up his experience over the next decade, Langone began to study the home improvement business and eventually bought stock in Handy Dan, a home improvement chain. This led to a relationship between Langone and both Handy Dan CEO Bernard Marcus and CFO Arthur Blank. Although a minority shareholder, Langone effectively protected Marcus from issues that arose between Marcus and Sanford Sigiloff, the CEO of The Daylin Corporation, Handy Dan's parent company. Marcus, however, felt that if Langone sold his interest in Handy Dan, it may actually improve his relationship with Sigiloff. Shortly after Langone sold his Handy Dan stock both Marcus and Blank were fired. Langone organized financing for Marcus and Blank to found Home Depot. Now a national chain with over 300,000 employees, it is Langone's most notable business venture.

Langone has made noise with his attempted purchase of the New York Stock Exchange. Although the deal fell through, it raised Langone's stature on Wall Street and in the business community in general. He became embroiled as a principal figure in the 2004 prosecution by Eliot Spitzer of Richard Grasso for a controversial pay package received by Grasso as chairman & chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2003. The charges were found to be without merit by a N.Y. appeals court by a 3 to 1 vote on 7/1/2008. The Exchange was operated as a non-profit enterprise. Langone was, as a director of the Exchange, involved in development of the pay package, which was