Sheldon Lubar

Sheldon B. Lubar (born March 21, 1929) is a Milwaukee-based investor, businessman, and philanthropist who founded and chairs Lubar & Co., a family-owned private investment and wealth-management firm. He holds bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and Law from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and later received honorary doctorates from UW–Madison, UW–Milwaukee, and the Medical College of Wisconsin. His early career was in banking and finance: he was a vice president at Marine National Exchange Bank (1953–1961), president of Marine Capital Corporation (1959–1965), chairman and president of Mortgage Associates, Inc. (1966–1973), and president of Midland National Bank of Milwaukee (1975–1976).

Lubar has held federal appointments under three U.S. presidents. Under President Nixon he served as Assistant Secretary for Housing Production and Mortgage Credit at HUD and as Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration and a director of the Federal National Mortgage Association (1973–1974); under President Carter he was named a Commissioner of the White House Conference on Small Business (1979–80). He has been chairman of Lubar & Co. since 1977 (the firm traces its founding to the late 1960s).

Over his career he built and led public companies, most notably serving as Chairman and CEO of Christiana Companies, Inc. (NYSE: CST) until its 1999 merger with Weatherford International, and as chairman of Total Logistics, Inc. until its 2005 acquisition by SuperValu. He has sat on numerous corporate boards, including MassMutual, U.S. Bancorp, MGIC Investment Corp., Ameritech, Weatherford International, Grant Prideco, Approach Resources, EnLink Midstream, Star Gas, and Hallador Energy.

A prominent civic figure, Lubar served as a member and President of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents and as President of the Milwaukee Art Museum. He and his wife Marianne are major philanthropists: a $10 million gift established the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center at UW–Milwaukee (whose business school is now the Sheldon B. Lubar College of Business), and their giving to UWM totals roughly $22 million. He is the originator of the firm's "Professional Ownership®" investment model and, in 2019, published a memoir, *Climbing My Mountain*, reflecting on six decades as a Milwaukee business leader.

• Practices a long-term, "buy-and-build" strategy rather than short-hold financial engineering — the firm states it "does not invest with an exit strategy" and starts with a long-term growth plan.
• Backs proven and promising management teams, not just assets: "We don't simply invest capital. We pro-actively collaborate with management to help companies reach their potential."
• Built around his proprietary "Professional Ownership®" philosophy — active, engaged ownership that empowers management teams pursuing ambitious growth.
• Sector-agnostic within established industries, drawing on "decades of experience in a wide variety of industries" — energy, industrial manufacturing, specialty chemicals, food, healthcare, and transportation.
• Focused on control or significant ownership positions in operating companies, often Midwest/Milwaukee-anchored.