Early Life and Career

He was born in Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, then later grew up in Scarsdale, New York

Scarsdale, New York

Scarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages...

 and Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 128,349. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Flemington....

. After attending Flemington High School, and graduating from Mercersburg Academy

Mercersburg Academy

Mercersburg Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school for grades 9-12 located in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, United States. The school's mission is:...

, Lenfest went on to receive his BA from Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...

 in 1953 and his LLB from Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...

 in 1958. He served in the Navy

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

 between college and law school. Lenfest worked at the firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell

Davis Polk & Wardwell

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an international law firm. The firm employs more than 800 attorneys worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. The firm represents many of the world's largest companies and leading financial institutions, and is best known for its corporate and litigation...

 before becoming, in 1965, associate counsel to Triangle Publications

Triangle Publications

Triangle Publications, Inc. was an American media group first based at 400 North Broad Street , Philadelphia, and later at its TV Guide headquarters in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Triangle Publications was a privately-held corporation with the majority of stock owned by Walter Annenberg and his sisters...

, Inc., the media company controlled by Walter Annenberg

Walter Annenberg

Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat.-Early life:Walter Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 13, 1908. He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published The Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia...

. In 1970, he was named head of the Communications Division at Triangle. He formed Lenfest Communications in 1974 and sold it to Comcast

Comcast

Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...

 in 2000 for $6.7 billion. Mr. Lenfest currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the TelVue Corporation. He is also the majority shareholder of this company.

Philanthropy

Lenfest's wife, Marguerite B. Lenfest has also played an active role in the Lenfest Group, and Suburban Cable TV Co., Inc. She serves on the board of several cultural institutions including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Lenfest plans on donating all of his wealth to worthy causes before he dies. On March 21, 2007, Lenfest announced a donation of $33 million to be spent solely on faculty compensation at his alma mater, Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...

, where he serves as a trustee, and an unpublished amount to Wilson College

Wilson College

Wilson College can refer to:* Wilson College , Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, USA* Warren Wilson College, Asheville, North Carolina, USA* Lindsey Wilson College, Kentucky, USA* Wilson College, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA...

, Mrs. Lenfest's alma mater. In recent years, Lenfest has given over $100 million to Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, where his donations include a $48 million challenge gift toward the endowment of 32 new professorships, $15 million toward construction of a Law School residence hall which bears his name, $15 million to support the programs of the Earth Institute

The Earth Institute

The Earth Institute was established at Columbia University in 1995. The research institute's stated mission is to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the world's poor...

, $12 million to endow awards for outstanding teaching, and most recently a $30 million pledge to help build a multidisciplinary arts venue on the Manhattanville campus.

Lenfest was elected a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...

, in 1993, and became Chairman of the Museum's board in 2001. In 2006, Lenfest became Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Curtis Institute of Music

Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...

.

Lenfest endows the Lenfest College Scholars program, a $12,000 per year scholarship awarded to high school juniors from the south central Pennsylvania area. Until 2007, he also endowed the Lenfest College Prep Scholarship, which was given to teenagers from eighth to tenth grade from certain areas of rural Pennsylvania to attend one of four private schools, Mercersburg Academy, The Perkiomen School

The Perkiomen School

The Perkiomen School is an independent, co-educational, boarding and day college preparatory school located in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. Perkiomen admits 6th-12th grade students and offers a year for postgraduate students. Founded by a descendant of a Schwenkfelder immigrant in 1875, The Perkiomen...

, Westtown School, or Wyoming Seminary. The Lenfest College Prep. Program was ended in 2007 due to unsatisfactory performance of some of the scholars. However, the scholarships will still be honored of those students still using the scholarship.

In July 2009 he donated $300,000 to the SS United States Conservancy to help buy the ship

SS United States

SS United States is a luxury passenger liner built in 1952 for the United States Lines designed to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record....

 from Star Cruises

Star Cruises

Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...

. In July 2010, he donated $5.8 million to the SS United States Conservancy — three million to buy the once-proud cruise ship SS United States from Norwegian Cruise Lines and the rest to outfit the ship for its next use.