Andrew McKelvey
Encyclopedia
Andrew McKelvey was an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive of Monster Worldwide. He was also a philanthropist
through the McKelvey Foundation
.
As a 14-year-old, McKelvey started a business in southern New Jersey
, buying eggs from a farmer and reselling them to area residents for an additional ten cents per dozen.
McKelvey graduated from Westminster College
in Pennsylvania
. The Westminster College campus center is named in his honor.
After graduating from college, he operated a movie theater and served in the United States Army
. After leaving the Army, he headed to Australia
in the mid-1950s, where he hoped he could take advantage of the lag in social trends reaching that part of the world. While there, he began a jukebox
business that became one of that country's largest.
He returned to the United States in the early 1960s, and took a job with an ad agency on Madison Avenue promoting products including Vaseline Hair Tonic. At another agency, he managed an account of a client that advertised in the Yellow Pages
, which triggered the idea of pursuing the opportunity of advertising in telephone directories.
In 1967, he founded Telephone Marketing Programs (TMP) as an ad agency focusing on the Yellow Pages ad agency, and built the firm up through a series of acquisitions. The business expanded into help-wanted agencies in the 1990s, which provided his introduction in to commerce online. In negotiating to purchase Adion, a help-wanted ad agency run by Jeff Taylor
, he learned about the firm's Web site, known as the Monster Board. He purchased Adion in 1995 and eventually bought into the Internet strategy. He further solidified the prominence of Monster.com by acquiring rivals Online Career Center and FlipDog.com. Telephone Marketing Programs (TMP) was later known as TMP Worldwide, and eventually becoming Monster Worldwide. By 2007, the firm had more than 5,000 employees in 36 countries and had revenue of $1.35 billion.
McKelvey contributed $25 million to establish the Andrew J. McKelvey Lung Transplant Center at Emory University
to support the research of a doctor who had treated him for a lung-scarring ailment. McKelvey helped organize the Families of Freedom fund after the September 11 attacks, headed by Bill Clinton
and Bob Dole
, which raised more than $100 million to be used toward college scholarships for the children of the attack's victims. He established the McKelvey Foundation
in 2000 to fund college scholarships for high school students with an interest in entrepreneurship. He donated $3 million to fund what is now the Andrew J. McKelvey Lower School at New York City's Hewitt School.
McKelvey was a board member of Handgun Control, Inc.
and in 2000, founded the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation
.
McKelvey left Monster Worldwide in 2006 after questions were raised regarding his involvement in the company's backdating of stock options. McKelvey repaid $8 million to the firm and gave up the majority of his voting shares, relinquishing his super-voting B shares and converting them into A shares, reducing his voting control in the firm from approximately 31% to 7%. He also made a payment of approximately $276,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which acknowledged that he had not been a beneficiary of the backdated options. Federal authorities had begun the investigation after an article in The Wall Street Journal
raised questions about what the paper called "a series of improbably well-timed stock-option grants to senior executives".
McKelvey died in New York City at age 74 on November 27, 2008 of pancreatic cancer
.
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
through the McKelvey Foundation
McKelvey Foundation
McKelvey Foundation is a charitable organization based in New York, N.Y. established in 2000 by American businessman and founder of Monster Worldwide Inc. Andrew McKelvey. The Foundation offers scholarships to young people for acquiring college education, and has awarded more than 600 scholarships....
.
As a 14-year-old, McKelvey started a business in southern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, buying eggs from a farmer and reselling them to area residents for an additional ten cents per dozen.
McKelvey graduated from Westminster College
Westminster College, Pennsylvania
Westminster College is a liberal arts college located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The Westminster College campus center is named in his honor.
After graduating from college, he operated a movie theater and served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. After leaving the Army, he headed to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the mid-1950s, where he hoped he could take advantage of the lag in social trends reaching that part of the world. While there, he began a jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
business that became one of that country's largest.
He returned to the United States in the early 1960s, and took a job with an ad agency on Madison Avenue promoting products including Vaseline Hair Tonic. At another agency, he managed an account of a client that advertised in the Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
, which triggered the idea of pursuing the opportunity of advertising in telephone directories.
In 1967, he founded Telephone Marketing Programs (TMP) as an ad agency focusing on the Yellow Pages ad agency, and built the firm up through a series of acquisitions. The business expanded into help-wanted agencies in the 1990s, which provided his introduction in to commerce online. In negotiating to purchase Adion, a help-wanted ad agency run by Jeff Taylor
Jeff Taylor
Jeff Taylor is a founder of the online jobs site Monster.com. He is a graduate of the program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In August 2005, he left Monster to found a new venture called Eons.com, a social networking website for people over age 50. In 2008, Taylor started...
, he learned about the firm's Web site, known as the Monster Board. He purchased Adion in 1995 and eventually bought into the Internet strategy. He further solidified the prominence of Monster.com by acquiring rivals Online Career Center and FlipDog.com. Telephone Marketing Programs (TMP) was later known as TMP Worldwide, and eventually becoming Monster Worldwide. By 2007, the firm had more than 5,000 employees in 36 countries and had revenue of $1.35 billion.
McKelvey contributed $25 million to establish the Andrew J. McKelvey Lung Transplant Center at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
to support the research of a doctor who had treated him for a lung-scarring ailment. McKelvey helped organize the Families of Freedom fund after the September 11 attacks, headed by Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
, which raised more than $100 million to be used toward college scholarships for the children of the attack's victims. He established the McKelvey Foundation
McKelvey Foundation
McKelvey Foundation is a charitable organization based in New York, N.Y. established in 2000 by American businessman and founder of Monster Worldwide Inc. Andrew McKelvey. The Foundation offers scholarships to young people for acquiring college education, and has awarded more than 600 scholarships....
in 2000 to fund college scholarships for high school students with an interest in entrepreneurship. He donated $3 million to fund what is now the Andrew J. McKelvey Lower School at New York City's Hewitt School.
McKelvey was a board member of Handgun Control, Inc.
Brady Campaign
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence are affiliated non-profit organizations in the United States. They are named after James Brady who was permanently disabled as a result of an assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
and in 2000, founded the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation
Americans for Gun Safety Foundation
The Americans for Gun Safety Foundation was an organization whose stated purpose is to promote gun safety training; promote restrictive gun laws; restrict gun rights; and reduce gun crime...
.
McKelvey left Monster Worldwide in 2006 after questions were raised regarding his involvement in the company's backdating of stock options. McKelvey repaid $8 million to the firm and gave up the majority of his voting shares, relinquishing his super-voting B shares and converting them into A shares, reducing his voting control in the firm from approximately 31% to 7%. He also made a payment of approximately $276,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which acknowledged that he had not been a beneficiary of the backdated options. Federal authorities had begun the investigation after an article in The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
raised questions about what the paper called "a series of improbably well-timed stock-option grants to senior executives".
McKelvey died in New York City at age 74 on November 27, 2008 of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
.