Frank Lorenzo

Frank Lorenzo

Francisco Anthony "Frank" Lorenzo (born (1940-05-19)May 19, 1940) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is most famous for his leadership of Texas International Airlines and its successor holding company Texas Air Corporation between 1972 and 1990, through which he formed or acquired a number of major U.S. airlines including Continental Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, New York Air and Peoplexpress Airlines.

As an airline manager, he gained a reputation of union busting, stemming from his leadership during the 1983 bankruptcy of Continental Airlines that enabled the company to void its union contracts, and during the strike and bankruptcy of Eastern Airlines that eventually led to its permanent shutdown in 1991. Lorenzo’s history is contentious, both “despised by unions and admired by airline strategists.” In 1990, after Lorenzo liquidated his holdings after 18 years in the airline industry, Alfred E. Kahn, the “main architect of airline deregulation,” offered this perspective on Lorenzo’s leadership: “I don’t think there is any question that he saved Continental, but his tactics obviously didn’t work when he took over Eastern.”

Since 1990, Lorenzo has been chairman of Savoy Capital, Inc., professionally devoted to asset management, private investments and venture capital, as well as a number of philanthropic activities.