Morton Mandel

Essential advice from a self-made leader

About Morton Mandel

"There are three things about Mort that always stick with me. The first is the absolute integrity of the man. Secondly, he’s the only person who knows how to do an acquisition successfully. Ninety percent of acquisitions misfire, but 90 percent of Mort’s work in acquisitions has been successful.  The third thing is that he has been exceedingly successful with his nonprofit work."Peter Drucker

Morton Mandel is a self-made billionaire, entrepreneur and philanthropist. With his brothers, Jack and Joseph, he cofounded Premier Industrial Corporation in 1940, eventually merging it with Farnell Electronics in a $3 billion transaction. The three Mandel brothers established the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation which funds numerous social leadership initiatives all over the world.

Morton Mandel was named by Peter Drucker as one of three impressive CEOs alongside Jack Welch and Andy Grove.  He learned how to start and build enduring institutions from the ground up.  His financial success and passion allowed him to partner with non-profits of all kinds with a laser-like focus on developing professional leadership and to truly transform people’s lives.

Mort has personally founded more than a dozen non-profit organizations.  His deep-seated passion is evident in the mission of his Foundation:  “To invest in people with the values, ability and passion to change the world.” 

Morton Mandel has fine-tuned a set of practices that have been proven to deliver dramatically better results.  In his book, It’s All About Who, he shows how important it is to find, recruit and cultivate “A” players for leadership roles.  This can lead to better strategies, better execution and greater client satisfaction.  Further, he believes that personal values matter – honesty, decency, respect and generosity – essential elements in a life worth living.