Marvin Warner

Marvin Leon Warner (born June 1919 in Birmingham, died April 8, 2002 in Cape Canaveral, Florida) was the United States Ambassador to Switzerland from 1977-79 and the owner of the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League during the league's existence from 1982-85. He was also a banker and breeder of thoroughbred horses.

Warner was born and raised in Birmingham in a family that owned a bakery and deli. He won a statewide contest in oratory in high school, earning a scholarship to the University of Alabama, where he earned degrees in business and law. After graduation he entered the U. S. Army and served in the legal division of the War Department in Washington from 1941 to 1942. In the evenings he enrolled in classes at George Washington University and completed the requirements for a Master of Law before being sent to the Pacific theater. He left the service as a major and returned to Birmingham with his wife to work in insurance and real estate. He and parner Joe Kanter flooded the post-war market developing apartments and housing tracts under the new National Housing Act.

With the Birmingham housing market near saturation he sought new opportunities in the midwest. In 1951 Warner moved to Cincinnati and pursued a string of developments, including that city's "Forest Park" and "Highland Towers". He bought a savings and loan in order to be able to offer housing loans to his own buyers. His style was flamboyent and the projects he pursued were considered too risky by others in the real estate community. He made them work by pioneering more efficient construction methods and approving unprecedented loans, such as no-down-payment offerings for veterans.

His financial standing in the city led him to pursue political appointments as well. In 1967 his first marriage ended in divorce. In 1968 he was appointed to be a delegate to the 23rd General Assembly of the United Nations. In the 1970s he became chairman of the Ohio Board of Regents and a member of the Democratic National Committee. During the 1976 presidential race he was a leading fundraiser in Ohio for the Carter campaign. Carter rewarded him in 1977 by naming Warner the Ambassador to Switzerland by President Jimmy Carter. He held that post for two years and remarried near the end of his term in 1979. That marriage, to Susan Goldwater, laster less than a year and he quickly met and married 28-year-old lawyer Jody Piehowicz back in Ohio. He briefly considered making a run for Governor of Ohio, but decided not to run. Instead he poured money into sports ventures. He bought a 10 percent stake in the New York Yankees from George Steinbrenner and 48 percent of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before launching the Birmingham Stallions. His Warnerton Farms enjoyed a great deal of success with breeding thoroughbreds.

In addition to sports, Warner increased his Savings and Loan portfolio. His Home State Savings Bank, which he had founded in 1973, had over 30 branches by 1985 when the bottom fell out. The bank had $140 million of its funds invested in ESM Government Securities, a Florida company that went bankrupt in a fog of fraud. The failure prompted a run that led Ohio to declare a bank holiday while it bailed out its Deposit Guarantee Fund with tax monies.

1985 was the third season for the Stallions, which had grown to become a premiere team in the USFL, averaging over 32,000 fans per game and competing for the championship. When Warner's legal troubles became known, a number of local investors came forward to purchase his interest. The City of Birmingham also agreed to a $1 million loan to keep the Stallions afloat.

Warner was ultimately convicted on six counts of fraud for making investments without board approval and three counts of securities violations. He was sentenced to 10 years, with all but 3 1/2 years suspended. After a series of failed appeals, he ended up serving less than 3 years (April 1991 to August 1993) at the Madison Correctional Center in Lebanon, Ohio. He also paid out $16 million in a settlement, down from the $22 million initially ordered by the court.

After his release from prison, Warner retired to a 150 acre farm in Ocala, Florida, living off money sheltered under Florida's homestead law, and was finally released from probation in 1997.

Warner died April 8, 2002 at the age of 82 in Cape Canaveral, where he had gone with a friend to watch the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. He was survived by a son, Mark, and two daughters, all by his first wife who had died two weeks prior. He is interred at Lakeside Cemetery in Miami.

The University of Alabama Law School awards a Marvin L. Warner scholarship.

References

• Horstman, Barry M. (December 27, 1999) "Marvin Warner: Financier's fall affected thousands". The Cincinnati Post.
• Horstman, Barry M. (April 12, 2002) "Banking scandal's Warner, 82, dies". The Cincinnati Post.