Steven Ferencz Udvar-Házy ([ˈudvɒrhaːzi]; born 1946), also known as István or Steve Hazy, is a Hungarian American businessman, who is the CEO of Air Lease Corporation. He is the former chairman and CEO of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), one of the two largest aircraft lessors in the world (the other being GE Capital Aviation Services). In 2011, Forbes ranked him as the world’s 409th richest person, with a net worth of US$3.2 billion.
Early life
The Udvar-Házy family came to the US in 1958, fleeing the Soviet occupation of Hungary. Hazy attended University High School in Los Angeles, and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Career
Udvar-Házy was in his 20s during the later part of transition from propeller aircraft to jets during the mid to late 1960s, and realized that the higher capital investment required to purchase jet aircraft created an opportunity for a leasing business. He founded ILFC with Leslie Gonda and his son Louis Gonda in 1973, leasing a single used Douglas DC-8 to Aeroméxico. He left ILFC in February 2010 to found Air Lease Corporation.
Philanthropy
Udvar-Házy gave a US$66 million grant to the Smithsonian Institution that allowed the U.S. National Air and Space Museum to build the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. The annex houses more than 120 aircraft and 140 space-exploration exhibits as of 2006, and also includes the Space Shuttle Discovery. Plans call for eventually installing over 300 aircraft.
The Udvar-Házy family contributed funds to build the Christine and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Library and Learning Center at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott Campus. The new library provides students with updated facilities and a great view of the surrounding campus. This donation is the largest to date made to the university. The business building at Dixie State University is named after his parents.
Personal life
He is married with four children, and lives in Beverly Hills, California.
Steven Udvar-Hazy Net Worth: Steven Udvar-Hazy is a Hungarian-born American entrepreneur who has a net worth of $3.7 billion. Born Steven (Hungarian: István) Ferencz Udvar-Hazy in 1946, in Budapest, Hungary, he is considered to be the godfather of the airplane leasing industry. In order to flee from the Soviet occupation of Hungary, the Udvar-Hazy family came to the USA in 1958. After graduating from University of California, Udvar-Hazy launched his own commuter airline. But struggling to keep on the track, he soon realized that money didn’t lay in operating airlines, but in leasing airplanes to airlines. In 1973, together with two partners, he set up International Lease Finance Corporation. In a short period of time, he became a Chairman of the board, and the company was sold to AIG for $1.2 billion in 1990. In 2010, he founded his second company, Air Lease Corporation, which is a direct competitor to AIG; and the two companies are currently involved in an ongoing civil suit over trade secrets. Moreover, Udvar-Hazy donated $66 million to the Smithsonian Institution that allowed the U.S. National Air and Space Museum to create the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. He also gave his contribution to the opening of the Christine and Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Library and Learning Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
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