Seymour Durst

Seymour B. Durst (c.1913 - May 15, 1995) was a New York real estate investor and developer. He was also a philanthropist and the inventor of the National Debt Clock.

Durst was born in New York City. He attended the Horace Mann School. He went on to study at the University of Southern California, where he earned a BA in accounting in 1935.

In 1940, Durst joined the real estate firm, the Durst Organization, which had been founded by his father, Joseph. After Joseph's death in 1974, Seymour took control of the Durst Organization. The company invested in Manhattan real estate, based upon Durst's belief that one should never buy anything one cannot walk to.cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DD103EF933A15756C0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=Seymour B. Durst, Real-Estate Developer Who Led Growth on West Side, Dies at 81|last=Oser|first=Alan S.|date=May 20, 1995|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-10-09]

Durst was vocal about his beliefs that the government should not interfere in real estate transactions. He was also concerned with the ballooning national debt. In 1989, Durst created and installed the National Debt Clock on a Durst Organization property in order to draw attention to the then $2.7 trillion debt. [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD163CF93BA35752C1A967958260&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title=Chronicle|last=Daniels|first=Lee A.|date=November 8, 1991|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-10-06]

References

ee also

*National Debt Clock