Charles Edwin Hurwitz

Charles Edwin Hurwitz (born 1940) is an American businessman and financier known for his role in the 1980s savings and loan crisis, and his takeover of Pacific Lumber Company, a logging company active in Humboldt County, California.

His other holdings have included Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, a pari-mutual racing facilities in Texas, real estate developments throughout the Southwest and the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas; retail store complexes in western New York; a golf resort in Florida and a hotel-condominium resort and 1,300 acres developed in Puerto Rico. In 1988, his company Federated Development built a $75-million resort hotel in Rancho Mirage, California, overcoming opposition from residents, including Frank Sinatra.

Early life and education Charles Edwin Hurwitz was born in 1940, and raised in Kilgore, Texas. His parents were Eva (née Engler) and Hyman Hurwitz, and his father was Jewish and owned a local clothing store, "Hurwitz Man's Shop" and he built the town's first shopping center. Hurwitz attended Oklahoma University, graduating in 1962 with a degree in marketing.

Starting in 1965, he worked at Bache and Company, as a stockbroker, and by age 27 he was the manager of a $54 million dollar hedge fund. Other companies associated with Hurwitz include McCulloch Oil which became MCO Holdings, and Sam Houston Race Park. Hurwitz alleged he was not in a position to have operating power at the United Savings Association of Texas, and he was not personally responsible for the 1988 collapse of the company which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion dollars. Hurwitz also alleged this FDIC suit was motivated by the government's desire to gain control of the Headwaters Forest Reserve. This case had been closely watched by the steel workers union, who were suspect of Hurwitz on the collapse of the Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, a Maxxam, Inc. subsidiary company.

In January 2006, Hurwitz was investigated by John Doolittle, and Richard W. Pombo, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives' House Resources Committee, alongside the former member Tom DeLay. They subpoenad the FDIC confidential records on the case, which was later eventually dropped.

Federated Development Hurwitz's company Federated Development built the 238-room Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage on 105 acres in Rancho Mirage, California. Pacific Lumber Company, a subsidiary of Maxxam, Inc. owned the largest grove of old-growth redwood trees in California, the Headwaters Grove (now known as the Headwaters Forest Reserve). Prior to their takeover by Hurwitz Pacific Lumber had logged sustainably with an eye towards long term profitability. After their acquisition the company's corporate strategy changed entirely with an emphasis placed on maximizing annual profits. Clearcutting of redwood groves angered conservationists, activists, and the public; and led to a California bond issue to release funds to purchase the redwood forest for preservation. The environmental organization Earth First! offered a $50,000 reward for "information leading to the arrest, conviction, and jailing of corporate raider Charles Hurwitz."

Personal life Hurwitz married Barbara Raye Gollub in 1963 in Tulsa, her hometown. Together they had two sons. The eldest, Shawn Hurwitz (1965–2015), died at the age of 50, during a 2015 boating accident on Lake Austin. The family lived in Houston for more than 25 years, but also spending significant time in New York and Los Angeles for business.