Ewing Marion Kauffman   Entrepreneur, Leader, Philanthropist

Born in 1916, Ewing Marion Kauffman was an entrepreneur, Major League Baseball team owner, and philanthropist who believed his success was a direct result of one fundamental philosophy: Treat others as you would like to be treated. "It is the happiest principle by which to live and the most intelligent principle by which to do business and make money," he said.

A person who had the capacity to see and expect the best from those around him, Ewing Kauffman was a man beloved by associates in the pharmaceutical company he founded, by those he touched through his involvement in baseball, and by others impacted through his creation of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

In 1950, following service in the Navy during World War II and several years as a pharmaceutical salesman, Ewing Kauffman founded Marion Laboratories Inc., operating out of his modest Kansas City residence. He used his middle name, rather than his last name, so customers would not perceive him as a one-man operation. By 1989, when Marion Laboratories was sold to Merrell Dow, it had become a global diversified pharmaceutical giant with annual sales of nearly $1 billion.

Ewing Kauffman's entrepreneurial success enabled him to help others. He provided jobs and economic self-sufficiency to thousands of associates at the pharmaceutical firm he had created. He brought Major League Baseball back to Kansas City, purchasing the Kansas City Royals in 1968, and boosting the city's economic base, community profile and civic pride. His most enduring gift was to establish a foundation to help others live self-sufficiently in healthy communities. Established in the mid-1960s, the Foundation became fully funded after Ewing Kauffman died in 1993.

Link:

http://www.emkf.org/pages/33.cfm