With Ties to the Successes of Hilton Head, Sawgrass, Disney and
St. Joe Company,
Rummell Will Also Head the NicklausMilstein Fund to Pursue Real
Estate Investment Opportunities
Peter Rummell, whose leadership over the past decade helped transform
The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) into one of the country’s
most dynamic real estate companies, now brings his development
experience and brand-building expertise to the Nicklaus Companies in his
new role as Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment was announced today by Nicklaus Companies Founder,
Chairman and past CEO Jack Nicklaus, who lauded Rummell’s
experience and the vision he possesses to help guide the global golf and
licensing company into the future.
“Peter Rummell is a man who understands
excellence, and has led organizations to excellence throughout his
career,” Nicklaus said. “We
are extremely fortunate to have Peter join our organization and at such
an exciting time in the evolution of our company. A year ago, we found a
like-minded partner in New York Private Bank & Trust to help us grow our
brand and our branded businesses. The addition of Peter fits perfectly
with our strategy to build on the success we have enjoyed, and to
realize our full potential so the business will continue to grow now and
beyond my lifetime.”
“The Nicklaus Companies has seen terrific
growth over recent years, and Jack is as engaged and as passionate as he
has been at any time during his career,” said
Howard Milstein, chairman and CEO of New York Private Bank & Trust. “It
was because of his commitment to building the business and the brand
that we entered into this strategic partnership a year ago. The addition
of Peter is a move that works in concert with our strategic business
focus. He has a wealth of experience in our company’s
core businesses, which are golf course design and branding.”
Rummell, 62, who already has a home in Jupiter Island but will also
retain his Jacksonville residence, will begin his duties in mid-August
as CEO of Nicklaus Companies LLC, which was created last June when New
York Private Bank & Trust became a long-term partner with the Nicklaus
family. It was actually representatives of New York Private Bank & Trust
who, during a search for CEO candidates, sought the counsel of Rummell
for recommendations. Rummell, who retired at the end of May as CEO for
The St. Joe Company, did not need to look far for a motivated candidate.
“When I retired as CEO of The St. Joe
Company, I had no intentions of ever taking another CEO position,”
Rummell explained. “But Jack’s
opportunity represents a junction of golf, real estate and branding—all
areas I am very familiar with—that is just
too compelling. The company is the perfect size and the worldwide future
is unparalleled. I flunked retirement!”
In addition to serving as CEO of the Nicklaus Companies, Peter Rummell
completes the executive structure of the NicklausMilstein Fund, where he
will also serve as CEO. The NicklausMilstein Fund is designed to capture
the real estate development and investment opportunities that arise from
the Nicklaus golf course design business. Howard Milstein will chair its
Investment Committee, which will include Gary Nicklaus and benefit from
the active participation of its Advisory Committee, which includes real
estate and business luminaries Stephen F. Bollenbach, formerly
co-chairman and chief executive officer of Hilton Hotels Corporation;
John H. Myers, chairman of AG Asset Management and formerly head of GE
Asset Management; Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., senior associate dean of UCLA
Anderson School of Management; and Gary L. Wilson, chairman of Northwest
Airlines Corporation, and formerly chief financial officer of The Walt
Disney Company.
Rummell had served as chairman and CEO of St. Joe since 1997. In his 11
years, he led St. Joe’s transition from a
regional conglomerate focused on the manufacturing of paper to one of
Florida’s largest and most successful real
estate operating companies and the state’s
largest private landowner. St. Joe now owns approximately 600,000 acres
in Florida, concentrated primarily in Northwest Florida. Upon Rummell’s
arrival, St. Joe soon transitioned into a creative and innovative real
estate development company and among the nation’s
more heralded placemakers.
Over the past four decades, Rummell has been an integral component to
some of the most successful real estate ventures on the Eastern
Seaboard. He began his real estate career in 1971 with the Sea Pines
Company, developers of Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Amelia Island, Fla.
Then, in 1977, he joined the Arvida Corporation and became general
manager of Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., which is home to PGA
TOUR headquarters.
“Peter Rummell is uniquely qualified to lead
the Nicklaus Companies and I applaud Jack’s
decision to bring him on board as CEO,” said
PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “I have
had the pleasure of working with Peter on various projects and have
always found him to be a true leader in every sense of the word. His
experience building strategic partnerships and his leadership in the
real estate industry for more than three decades will serve the Nicklaus
Companies well.”
Rummell joined the Rockefeller Center Management Corporation in New York
as vice chairman in 1983, and left two years later to become president
of Disney Development Company. This development arm of The Walt Disney
Company was responsible for all non-theme park development. Its focus
included hotel and related development at the company’s
theme park locations in Orlando, Anaheim, Paris and Tokyo. During Rummell’s
12-year tenure, Disney produced over 20,000 hotel rooms and several
hundred thousand square feet of themed retail space. The award-winning
Florida town of Celebration, encompassing close to 5,000 acres near
Orlando, was also a product of this development effort and 12 years
after its launch is now home to 9,000 residents. Disney Development
Company and Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s
design and creative division responsible for theme park development,
were later merged and Rummell became chairman of the combined group,
Walt Disney Imagineering. Rummell and Disney Imagineering were
responsible for the design and launch of Disney Cruise Lines, which
first set sail in 1998.
Rummell is immediate past chairman of both the Florida Council of 100, a
nonpartisan organization of the state’s
leading CEOs, and the Urban Land Institute Foundation, the worldwide
real estate organization promoting the intelligent use of land. He is
past chairman and on the board of The Alliance for World Class
Education, an advocate for public education in Northeast Florida, and he
serves on the board of Avalon Bay Communities, Incorporated, a
Virginia-based company with interests in 176 apartment communities
consisting of more than 50,000 units. Rummell was co-chairman of the
Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee, which hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in
February 2005.
Rummell graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
and in 1971, received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University
of Pennsylvania. Rummell and his wife, Lee Ann, have two children;
Mahala (16) and Harry (13).
About the Nicklaus Companies
The Nicklaus Companies is the privately held company of Jack Nicklaus
and the Nicklaus family. For close to 40 years, the mission of the
Nicklaus Companies has been to enhance the golf experience, and to bring
to the national and international consumer golf-related businesses,
products and services that mirror the high standards established in the
career and life of Jack Nicklaus. These services include golf-course
design, the development of golf and real estate communities, and the
marketing and licensing of golf products and services. Nicklaus Design
is widely regarded as the world’s leading
design firm with 333 courses open for play in 32 countries and 38
states. At least 60 Nicklaus Design courses have been ranked in various
national or international Top-100 lists, and at least 87 Nicklaus
courses have hosted a combined total of over 600 professional
tournaments worldwide or significant national amateur championships.
Nicklaus Design currently has more than 55 courses under construction
and projects under development in 44 different countries.
About New York Private Bank & Trust
New York Private Bank & Trust is the largest privately held bank in the
United States and, through various affiliates, has investments in a
broad range of financial and operating businesses. Howard Milstein is
the Chairman and CEO of New York Private Bank & Trust, which is wholly
owned by his family. For three generations, the Milstein family has been
a major force in the development of New York City, the region and
beyond. Their entrepreneurial spirit is evident in their major holdings:
Milstein Properties, Milstein Brothers Capital Partners and Emigrant
Savings Bank. In 1986, the Milsteins acquired Emigrant Savings Bank, a
$3 billion historic New York City bank. Under Howard Milstein’s
leadership, Emigrant Bank has now become, at over $15 billion, the
largest privately-owned bank in the United States. New York Private Bank
& Trust is the bank holding company parent of Emigrant Bank.
For this press release and additional information about Nicklaus or
Nicklaus Design, please visit www.nicklaus.com.
Nicklaus Companies
Scott Tolley, Director of Communications
Tel:
561-227-0300
Fax: 561-227-0351
scott.tolley@nicklaus.com
