With ties to the successes of Hilton Head, Sawgrass, Disney and St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE), Rummell will also head the NicklausMilstein Fund to pursue real estate investment opportunities
NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla.-Peter Rummell, whose leadership over the past decade helped transform The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) into one of the country’s most dynamic real estate companies, now brings his development experience and brand-building expertise to the Nicklaus Companies in his new role as Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment was announced today by Nicklaus Companies Founder, Chairman and past CEO Jack Nicklaus, who lauded Rummell’s experience and the vision he possesses to help guide the global golf and licensing company into the future.
“Peter Rummell is a man who understands excellence, and has led organizations to excellence throughout his career,” Nicklaus said. “We are extremely fortunate to have Peter join our organization and at such an exciting time in the evolution of our company. A year ago, we found a like-minded partner in New York Private Bank & Trust to help us grow our brand and our branded businesses. The addition of Peter fits perfectly with our strategy to build on the success we have enjoyed, and to realize our full potential so the business will continue to grow now and beyond my lifetime.”
“The Nicklaus Companies has seen terrific growth over recent years, and Jack is as engaged and as passionate as he has been at any time during his career,” said Howard Milstein, chairman and CEO of New York Private Bank & Trust. “It was because of his commitment to building the business and the brand that we entered into this strategic partnership a year ago. The addition of Peter is a move that works in concert with our strategic business focus. He has a wealth of experience in our company’s core businesses, which are golf course design and branding.”
Rummell, 62, who already has a home in Jupiter Island but will also retain his Jacksonville residence, will begin his duties in mid-August as CEO of Nicklaus Companies LLC, which was created last June when New York Private Bank & Trust became a long-term partner with the Nicklaus family. It was actually representatives of New York Private Bank & Trust who, during a search for CEO candidates, sought the counsel of Rummell for recommendations. Rummell, who retired at the end of May as CEO for The St. Joe Company, did not need to look far for a motivated candidate.
“When I retired as CEO of The St. Joe Company, I had no intentions of ever taking another CEO position,” Rummell explained. “But Jack’s opportunity represents a junction of golf, real estate and branding-all areas I am very familiar with-that is just too compelling. The company is the perfect size and the worldwide future is unparalleled. I flunked retirement!”
In addition to serving as CEO of the Nicklaus Companies, Peter Rummell completes the executive structure of the NicklausMilstein Fund, where he will also serve as CEO. The NicklausMilstein Fund is designed to capture the real estate development and investment opportunities that arise from the Nicklaus golf course design business. Howard Milstein will chair its Investment Committee, which will include Gary Nicklaus and benefit from the active participation of its Advisory Committee, which includes real estate and business luminaries Stephen F. Bollenbach, formerly co-chairman and chief executive officer of Hilton Hotels Corporation; John H. Myers, chairman of AG Asset Management and formerly head of GE Asset Management; Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., senior associate dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management; and Gary L. Wilson, chairman of Northwest Airlines Corporation, and formerly chief financial officer of The Walt Disney Company.
Rummell had served as chairman and CEO of St. Joe since 1997. In his 11 years, he led St. Joe’s transition from a regional conglomerate focused on the manufacturing of paper to one of Florida’s largest and most successful real estate operating companies and the state’s largest private landowner. St. Joe now owns approximately 600,000 acres in Florida, concentrated primarily inNorthwest Florida. Upon Rummell’s arrival, St. Joe soon transitioned into a creative and innovative real estate development company and among the nation’s more heralded placemakers.
Over the past four decades, Rummell has been an integral component to some of the most successful real estate ventures on the Eastern Seaboard. He began his real estate career in 1971 with the Sea Pines Company, developers of Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Amelia Island, Fla. Then, in 1977, he joined the Arvida Corporation and became general manager of Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach,Fla., which is home to PGA TOUR headquarters.
“Peter Rummell is uniquely qualified to lead the Nicklaus Companies and I applaud Jack’s decision to bring him on board as CEO,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “I have had the pleasure of working with Peter on various projects and have always found him to be a true leader in every sense of the word. His experience building strategic partnerships and his leadership in the real estate industry for more than three decades will serve the Nicklaus Companies well.”
Rummell joined the Rockefeller Center Management Corporation in New York as vice chairman in 1983, and left two years later to become president of Disney Development Company. This development arm of The Walt Disney Company was responsible for all non-theme park development. Its focus included hotel and related development at the company’s theme park locations in Orlando, Anaheim,Paris and Tokyo. During Rummell’s 12-year tenure, Disney produced over 20,000 hotel rooms and several hundred thousand square feet of themed retail space. The award-winning Florida town of Celebration, encompassing close to 5,000 acres near Orlando, was also a product of this development effort and 12 years after its launch is now home to 9,000 residents. Disney Development Company and Walt Disney Imagineering, the company’s design and creative division responsible for theme park development, were later merged and Rummell became chairman of the combined group, Walt Disney Imagineering. Rummell and Disney Imagineering were responsible for the design and launch of Disney Cruise Lines, which first set sail in 1998.
Rummell is immediate past chairman of both the Florida Council of 100, a nonpartisan organization of the state’s leading CEOs, and the Urban Land Institute Foundation, the worldwide real estate organization promoting the intelligent use of land. He is past chairman and on the board of The Alliance for World Class
Education, an advocate for public education in Northeast Florida, and he serves on the board of Avalon Bay Communities, Incorporated, a Virginia-based company with interests in 176 apartment communities consisting of more than 50,000 units. Rummell was co-chairman of the Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee, which hosted Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005.
Rummell graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in 1971, received his MBA from the Wharton School of theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Rummell and his wife, Lee Ann, have two children; Mahala (16) and Harry (13).
ABOUT THE NICKLAUS COMPANIES
The Nicklaus Companies is the privately held company of Jack Nicklaus and the Nicklaus family. For close to 40 years, the mission of the Nicklaus Companies has been to enhance the golf experience, and to bring to the national and international consumer golf-related businesses, products and services that mirror the high standards established in the career and life of Jack Nicklaus. These services include golf-course design, the development of golf and real estate communities, and the marketing and licensing of golf products and services. Nicklaus Design is widely regarded as the world’s leading design firm with 333 courses open for play in 32 countries and 38 states. At least 60 Nicklaus Design courses have been ranked in various national or international Top-100 lists, and at least 87 Nicklaus courses have hosted a combined total of over 600 professional tournaments worldwide or significant national amateur championships. Nicklaus Design currently has more than 55 courses under construction and projects under development in 44 different countries.
ABOUT NEW YORK PRIVATE BANK & TRUST
New York Private Bank & Trust is the largest privately held bank in the United States and, through various affiliates, has investments in a broad range of financial and operating businesses. Howard Milstein is the Chairman and CEO of New York Private Bank & Trust, which is wholly owned by his family. For three generations, the Milstein family has been a major force in the development of New York City, the region and beyond. Their entrepreneurial spirit is evident in their major holdings: Milstein Properties, Milstein Brothers Capital Partners and Emigrant Savings Bank. In 1986, the Milsteins acquired Emigrant Savings Bank, a $3 billion historic New York City bank. Under Howard Milstein’s leadership, Emigrant Bank has now become, at over $15 billion, the largest privately-owned bank in the United States. New York Private Bank & Trust is the bank holding company parent of Emigrant Bank.
For this press release and additional information about Nicklaus or Nicklaus Design, please visit www.nicklaus.com.
Contact:
Nicklaus Companies
Scott Tolley
Director of Communications
11780 U.S. Highway #1
Suite 500
North Palm Beach, FL. 33408
Tel: 561-227-0300
Fax: 561-227-0351
scott.tolley@nicklaus.com
