Biography
Hess was born on March 13, 1914. His father was a Russian immigrant who worked as an oil delivery man in Asbury Park, New Jersey during the Great Depression.
He married Norma around 1945 and they had three children: Marlene Hess, Connie Hess, and John B. Hess.
He acquired Amerada Corporation in 1969 where he was chairman and CEO till 1995.
He was part of a consortium that bought the New York Jets in 1963 which included Hess, Sonny Werblin, Philip H. Iselin, Townsend B. Martin and Donald Lillis.
He bought out his partners: Sonny Werblin in 1968, the heirs of Philip H. Iselin in 1977, Townsend Martin in 1981 and became the sole owner of the club after purchasing the last quarter-share from Helen Dillon, Lillis' daughter, in 1984. The Jets played in Shea Stadium in 1964 after four seasons in the Polo Grounds. In 1984 Hess moved the team to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. When he owned the Jets, he would eat dinner after almost every home game at Lusardi's.
Hess died at Lenox Hill Hospital on May 7, 1999 from a "blood disease".
Read more about this topic: Leon Hess
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