http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Friedman
Thomas Friedman was born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of
Minneapolis. He attended St. Louis Park High School, where he wrote
articles for his school's newspaper, including one in which he wrote
about Ariel Sharon, an Israeli general who later became Prime Minister
of Israel. Friedman graduated in 1971.
Friedman's wife, Ann, is a graduate of Stanford University and the
London School of Economics. Her father, Matthew Bucksbaum, was the
chairman of the board of General Growth Properties, the real estate
development group that he co-founded with his brother in 1954. The
Bucksbaums helped pioneer the development of shopping centers in the
United States.[3] As of 2007, Forbes estimated the Bucksbaum family's
assets at $4.1 billion, including about 18.6 million square meters of
mall space. In late 2008 the value of the heavily leveraged firm
plummeted and the company was threatened with bankruptcy; Ann's brother
John resigned as CEO, ending family executive control of General Growth
Properties. In its February 2009 issue, Harper's Magazine (based on
information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) estimated
that the value of the Bucksbaum family fortune shrank by 97 percent
since December 2007. The family's trust declined in value from $3.6
billion to $25 million.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033001049.html
Shopping Mall Company Working to Avoid Bankruptcy
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 30, 2009; 9:48 AM
General Growth, the huge shopping mall owner that is struggling to avoid
bankruptcy and is late in its debt payments, said today that it is
continuing discussions with bond holders.
The company said in a statement that it did not achieve the minimum
acceptance levels for a previously announced deal, which expired Friday.
Some of the company's lenders have already moved to foreclose on its
properties.
General Growth, based in Chicago, has nearly $30 billion in debt. It has
been trying to get loan extensions and raise cash by selling some malls.
It has gotten rid of its chief financial officer and suspended its
dividend. Rating agencies have downgraded its credit ratings.
Some retail analysts predict the company is teetering on declaring
bankruptcy. If it does so, that would be among the largest real estate
downfalls in U.S. history.
The company owns and manages more than 200 regional shopping malls in 44
states. It owns Fashion Show in Las Vegas, Water Tower Place in Chicago
and Faneuil Hall in Boston. Locally, it owns Landmark Mall in
Alexandria, Tysons Galleria in McLean and Laurel Commons in Laurel.
The 50-year-old company was started by the Bucksbaum brothers, who were
grocers. In the real estate market's boom years, General Growth used
debt to aggressively buy properties. Its biggest acquisition came in
2004 when it paid nearly $13 billion for the Rouse Co., known for
creating Columbia.
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