George H. Love was a businessman and industrialist who was in control of two major corporations—the Consolidation Coal Company and the Chrysler Corporation—and lead both back to profitability.

Early life

Love was born 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...

. He attended Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 as an undergraduate, and then, unable to immediately find work, became a miner and overseer in one of his family's coal mines. Later, he went on to get his MBA from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. and spent two years as a broker in the investment field before an uncle put him in charge of three family-owned coal mines in Pennsylvania. Also during this time he was active in other areas—in 1926, he was a vice-president of Pittsburgh Union collieries, and in 1933 he became president.

Consolidation Coal Company

After Love was able to turn things around at the first three mines, Love took control of his uncle's struggling Consolidation Coal Company in total in the year 1944. He turned things around by a series of mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...

, through which he was able to broaden the economies of scale. His mergers, with Pittsburgh Coal and the M. A. Hanna Company

M. A. Hanna Company

M. A. Hanna Company was an iron ore processing company located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.-Origin:The origins of the M. A. Hanna Co. are with Daniel F. Rhodes. In the 1840s Rhodes had founded Rhodes & Company which mined coal in the Mahoning Valley. Marcus Hanna, the national Republican...

, end up creating (at the time) the country's largest coal company. His process improvements included focusing on industrial sales

Business-to-business

Business-to-business describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer...

 rather than private distribution , major changes in the safety requirements of coal mining, removing primitive implements such as mule

Mule

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

s and picks with modern mechanical equipment. He left the helm in 1956.

Union Efforts

Love was well-known for his even-handed and fair negotiations with union leader John Lewis

John L. Lewis

John Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960...

 and the United Mine Workers

United Mine Workers

The United Mine Workers of America is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners and coal technicians. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the United States and Canada...

 group. After his retirement, he was a chief negotiator for the coal industry as a whole with labor, leading to a 13-year period of labor peace.

Chrysler Corporation

In 1958, George Love decided he was going to get back into business. Already a multimillionaire, he became a member of the board of directors of Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

, which had suffered in losing a large portion of the automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 market after World War II. In 1961, Love selected Lynn A. Townsend as president of the company, and Chrysler's fortunes were quickly reversed. Even in the 1940s, Love's coal companies were heavily invested in Chrysler, owning almost 8 percent of the automaker's stock. Eventually Love became chairman of the board in 1965 , where he remained until his second retirement in 1970.

He died, due to complications from emphysema

Emphysema

Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...

, in 1991.

Interests

Love purchased a section of Walter Evans Edge

Walter Evans Edge

Walter Evans Edge was an American politician. A Republican, he was twice the Governor of New Jersey, from 1917 to 1919 and again from 1944 to 1947, serving as governor during both World War I and World War II...

's Sunny Hill Plantation

Sunny Hill Plantation

Sunny Hill Plantation was a large hunting plantation in northern Leon County, Florida.- Plantation :Sunny Hill Plantation was established by Lewis S. Thompson in 1913, and was created from the former W. G. Ponder Plantation...

 in Leon County, Florida

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

 and named it Loveridge Plantation

Loveridge Plantation

Loveridge Plantation was a quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States and established by George H. Love.Loveridge began as on the northwest corner of Lake Miccosukee. In 1956, Love acquired an additional of Sunny Hill Plantation from the estate of New Jersey...

. Love used this for quail hunting.