Background
Bucksbaum, Matthew was born on February 20, 1926 in Marshalltown, Iowa, United States. Son of Louis and Ida (Gerwin) Bucksbaum.
Real estate investment trust company executive
Bucksbaum, Matthew was born on February 20, 1926 in Marshalltown, Iowa, United States. Son of Louis and Ida (Gerwin) Bucksbaum.
He graduated from the University of Iowa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1949, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the Order of Artus.
During World World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Theatre as a cryptographer based in New Guinea. His family owned a chain of three grocery stores. They expanded into enclosed malls which mirrored the continued movement to the suburbs seen in the 1960s.
By 1964, their company - then named General Management - owned five malls anchored by the Younkers department store.
In 1972, the company became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the name General Growth Properties (New York Stock Exchange: GGP) and became the second-largest owner, developer, and manager of regional shopping malls in the country. Bucksbaum served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and under his tenure, he formed two Real estate investment trusts and expanded the company"s portfolio of malls and shopping centers via more than $36 billion in acquisitions.
In 1984, General Growth sold 19 malls for $800 million to Equitable Real Estate, which was deemed the “nation’s largest single asset real estate transaction” to date. In 2004, General Growth purchased The Rouse Company for $14.2 billion.
By 2007, General Growth was the second-largest Real Estate Investment Trust owning 194 malls with over 200 million square feet in 44 states.
In 2008, General Growth filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the collapse of the stock market. He sat on the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was a President of the Temple B"nai Jeshurun and the Polk County Mental Health Association, and a Director of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, all in Des Moines, Iowa.
He donated United States$42 million to the University of Chicago for the creation of the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence.
He died in Chicago of complications from Alzheimer"s disease on November 24, 2013.
Trustee, past chairman Aspen (Colorado) Music Festival and School. Board directors Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Chicago Sergeant United States Air Force, 1944-1946, PTO. Member of Urban Land Institute, International Council Shopping Centers (past chairman), Order of Artus, Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Carolyn Swartz, August 3, 1952. Children: Ann B. Friedman, John.