Leona Helmsley's official business title is "President of the 21 Harley and Helmsley Hotels," but a better title might be "Queen." From her lavish pink office at the Helmsley Place Hotel in midtown Manhattan, she manages her nearly 5,000 employees with a firm hand and uncompromising eye for detail. The Helmsley Place is the only New York hotel to receive AAA's Five Diamond Award.
Leona Helmsley was born Leona Mindy Rosenthal in New York City on July 4, 1920. The daughter of a local hat manufacturer, Helmsley graduated from New York City public schools and then enrolled in the English program at the city's Hunter College. The ambitious and attractive young woman decided after her sophomore year, however, that there were quicker ways to achieve success, so she left Hunter for the more profitable profession of modeling. After working as a model for a number of years--Helmsley would be one of several Chesterfield cigarette girls to grace that company's print ads--she married attorney Leo Panzirer in 1939, and had a son, Jay. Helmsley and Panzirer divorced, after their son was older and at this time the 42-year-old Leona was forced to reenter the job market. In 1962 she got a job as a receptionist at the New York real estate firm of Pease & Elliman. At Pease & Elliman she quickly advanced, moving into positions as saleswoman, broker, and ultimately senior vice president during her seven years with the firm. From there, Leona founded her own firm, Sutton & Towne Residential, where she again proved her abilities, earning as much as $400,000 in sales commissions during a single quarter of 1968.
Two years later, Leona was offered a position as vice president at Brown, Harris, Stevens, a subsidiary of the Helmsley-Spear property management. The company's co-owner, Harry Helmsley, was attracted to much more than Leona's professional abilities; within a year Harry who had begun his own successful career in New York City real estate in 1925 as an office boy and rent-collector--divorced his first wife of 33 years and made his new vice president his new wife.
How ethical was Leona Helmsley? According to me, Leona Helmsley wasn't ethical at all. ... Leona as a leader was controlling, demanding, rigid, strict. ... How did Leona Helmsley's abuse of power affect the way she did business? Leona abused all her powers and that brought down her estate. ...
