Nelson Peltz Biography

Nelson Peltz (born June 24, 1942) is an American businessman and a founding partner, together with Peter W. May and Edward P. Garden, of Trian Fund Management. L.P., an alternative investment management fund, based in New York. He is non-executive chairman of the Board of The Wendy's Company and a director of Legg Mason, Inc. He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Triangle Industries, a Fortune 100 industrial company.

Early life and education

Peltz is Jewish and was born in 1942 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Claire (née Wechsler) and Maurice Herbert Peltz. He was enrolled at the undergraduate program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he joined the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta, but never completed his degree. In 1963, he dropped out of school and ended up driving a delivery truck for his family's $2.5 million in sales, wholesale food distribution business which delivered fresh produce and frozen food to restaurants in New York. His father gave him free rein with the company, and over the next 15 years he grew the business into a publicly held company with $150 million in sales.

Business career

In the 1980s, Peltz and his business partner, Peter May, built Triangle Industries into a Fortune 100 industrial company. Triangle was sold to Pechiney in 1988.

In 1997, through an investment vehicle they controlled, Triarc Cos, Peltz and May acquired Snapple, from Quaker Oats. Snapple, together with other beverage brands was sold to Cadbury Schweppes in 2000. The Snapple turnaround was featured as a Harvard Business School case study.

In 2005, Peltz, May, and Ed Garden, founded Trian Fund Management, L.P. Trian has made investments in Wendy's, Heinz, Cadbury, Legg Mason, Kraft Foods, Family Dollar, Tiffany & Co., State Street Corporation and Domino's Pizza.

In 2006 Trian was involved in a proxy contest with Heinz to get five independent directors on the board of Heinz. In the end Trian succeeded in getting two members on the board, including Peltz.

In 2007, Trian bought a 3% share of Cadbury-Schweppes which may have influenced the spin-off of Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages from the Cadbury Schweppes confectionery group. In 2007, Trian also bought $1.8 billion in shares of Kraft Foods, roughly a 3% of the total equity of the food maker.

On April 24, 2008, it was announced that Triarc Cos. would merge with burger chain Wendy's. The merger was completed on September 29, 2008. The new company was named Wendy's Arby's Group and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WEN. On July 25, 2011, Wendy's sold Arby's to Roark Capital Group and changed its name to The Wendy's Company.

According to CNBC, on February 15, 2011, Trian offered to buy Family Dollar for $55"60 per share.

In mid-February 2011, Trian, announced it had accumulated an 8% stake in the Family Dollar company and indicated a willingness to participate in a take private LBO for the company with a total value of about $7 to $8 billion. This overture was rejected by the company management and board of directors. In September 2011, Ed Garden, Trian's Chief Investment Officer, joined the Family Dollar board.

Peltz was appointed to the Ingersoll-Rand board of directors in 2012.

In November 2012, Peltz bought a one percent stake in the French food conglomerate, Danone SA. His stake was valued at around "?300 million.

Personal life

Peltz has been married three times. His third wife is Claudia Heffner, a former fashion model, with whom he has eight children. He has two children from his prior marriages. Among Peltz' children are actors Nicola Peltz and Will Peltz. His son, Brad Peltz, is a professional ice hockey player who played in the ECHL during the 2012"13 ECHL season.

Peltz resides in Encinitas, California, and Bedford, New York. He also owns Montsorrel, which is his house in Palm Beach, Florida previously owned by Anita Young, the sister of Georgia O'Keeffe. According to Forbes, it is one of the most expensive homes in the United States.

His current net worth is estimated at $1.1 billion.

In December 2010, he was rumored to be interested in the purchase of the New York Islanders hockey club from Charles Wang, formerly of CA, Inc.

Philanthropy

In 2005, Peltz was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush. He is also a heavy contributor to Jewish causes and has been described by The New York Times as a "compassionate leader" of the New York Jewish community.

Awards and recognition

He was recognized by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) in 2010 and 2011 as among the most influential people in global corporate governance.