Edward Scott Lampert (born July 19, 1962) is an American businessman and investor. He is the chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings (SHLD) and founder, chairman, and CEO of ESL Investments. Until May 2007 he was a director of AutoNation, Inc. He previously served as a director of AutoZone, Inc. from July 1999 to October 2006.
Early life and education
Lampert was born in 1962 to Dolores Lampert and Floyd M. Lampert. His mother was a housewife. His father was a senior partner in the law firm of Lampert & Lampert in New York City. He has a younger sister Tracey. Lampert’s grandmother was a passive investor and big fan of Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street Week television program. She instilled in him an interest in investing. His mother would later recall that young Eddie would sit with his grandmother reviewing and evaluating the performance of her stock picks in the daily newspaper.
Lampert’s father died at the age of 47 and his mother took a job as a clerk at Saks Fifth Avenue. His mother would later say: “Eddie really assumed the responsibility, knowing that life had changed and we had to accomplish something by ourselves now.” In order to help support his family, Eddie worked after school and on weekends at various warehouses, stocking shelves and filling orders. Despite working, he earned good grades, played both soccer and basketball, and won the scholar athlete award at his high school. He received financial aid to help pay for college. Lampert graduated from Yale University in 1984 (B.A., economics, summa cum laude), where he was a member of Skull and Bones and Phi Beta Kappa.
| Edward Lampert | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 19, 1962 Roslyn, New York, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Businessman, investor |
| Net worth |  $2.2 Billion USD (September 2016) |
| Spouse(s) | Kinga Lampert |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Floyd M. Lampert Dolores Lampert |
- After a stint at Goldman Sachs’ risk arbitrage department, Edward Lampert founded hedge fund ESL Investments in 1988, betting on undervalued stocks.
- He took over as CEO of struggling retail giant Sears Holdings (Sears, Kmart, Kenmore) in 2013 with hopes of a turnaround, but failed miserably.
- Lampert’s ESL Investments promised Sears nearly $1 billion in loans in the first 10 months of 2017.
- In October 2018, Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced that it would close 142 Sears and Kmart stores.
- In January 2019 Lampert won an auction to keep the company, with a reported bid of more than $5 billion; a judge still must sign off on the proposal.
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