COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Jerry Zucker, a self-made billionaire who turned a small holding company into an empire that would eventually buy one of Canada's most-storied companies, has died. He was 58.
Zucker, chief executive officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, died of cancer Saturday at his Charleston home, according to the company.
Zucker was a scientist and inventor before becoming a global businessman. In 1983, he founded The InterTech Group, a conglomerate that makes fabrics and plastics for items as simple as tarps and as complex as insulation used in the minus 200 degree world of cryogenics. The company said his wife, Anita, will take over as chairwoman and chief executive officer, while his son Jonathan has been named president.
In 2006, Jerry Zucker acquired Hudson's Bay Company, created as a fur-trading venture under a royal charter in 1670. Anita Zucker will take over as governor, becoming the first woman chief executive in the retailer's 338-year history.
'Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Zucker family in their time of mourning. The best tribute we can give to Jerry is to continue his vision for the long-term success of HBC,' said Rob Johnston, deputy governor of the company.
The acquisition of Hudson's Bay Company moved Zucker onto Forbes magazine's list of billionaires, with a net worth of $1.2 billion in the 2008 list.
Zucker was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1949 and immigrated to Charleston with his parents and brother three years later. He majored in chemistry, mathematics and physics at the University of Florida and received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Florida State University.
Zucker had more than 350 inventions and patents. His first major invention came in high school. The technology that went into his Revolutionary Phase Factor for Colinear Electromagnetic Waves would later be used in the first lunar landing module.
Zucker also made pacemakers and surgical tools and discovered a process so manufacturers could perforate the outside end of a roll of toilet paper instead of having to glue it.
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