Super Lou!: The Rise, Fall, and Affirmed Redemption of Louis Wolfson, America’s First Corporate Raider

Louise Elwood Wolfson was a Wall Street financier and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by Time Magazine as such in a 1956 article. In later years he was a major thoroughbred horse racing participant, best known as the owner and breeder of 1978 American Triple Crown winner, Affirmed. In 1967 and 1968, he was convicted of selling unregistered shares and of perjury and obstruction of justice for which he served nine months in a federal prison. The conviction eventually led to the 1969 resignation of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, who first returned a $20,000 retainer to a Wolsfon foundation. A Place in American Financial HistoryDean Henry G. Manne of the George Mason University School of Law put forward the view at the time of Wolfson’s death that Wolfson was a unique and immense contributor to the wealth of the U.S. (and world economy) for having invented the modern hostile tender offer. Wolfson’s contribution to human welfare far exceeded the total value of all private philanthropy in history. He invented the modern hostile tender offer. This invention, which activated and energized the market for corporate control, was the primary cause of the revolutionary reconstructing of American industry in the 1970’s and ‘80s, and the ensuing economic boom. This is his story. This is his legacy.