“Built by bonds”
Entry in progress—B.P.
Wikipedia: James A. Lebenthal
James “Jim” Avram Lebenthal (22 June 1928 – 14 November 2014) was an American business person, specialised in municipal bonds. Earlier in his career he also worked as an journalist, filmmaker and copywriter. In 1959 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his first and only film production T Is for Tumbleweed.
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In 1963 he joined Lebenthal & Company, formerly led by his mother Sayra Fischer Lebenthal. In the 1970s he created an marketing campaign for municipal bonds with TV and radio spots. In 1995 he shifted the responsibility for the company to his daughter Alexandra Lebenthal. The family sold the business to Advest, Inc. for 25 million USD in 2001.
Google Books
Lebenthal on Munis:
Straight Talk About Tax-Free Municipal Bonds for the Troubled Investor Deciding “Yes…or No!”
By Jim Lebenthal
Garden City, NY: Morgan James
2009
Pg. 84:
The MTA ought to put up a sign somewhere: Built By Bonds.
The Bond Buyer
Muni Legend and Pioneer James A. Lebenthal Dies at 86
BY CHRISTINE ALBANO
NOV 14, 2014 6:15pm ET
James A. Lebenthal, a pioneer of the municipal bond industry whose radio and television advertisements helped make tax-exempt securities a household name, died Friday in New York City due to complications from a massive heart attack, according to his daughter, Alexandra Lebenthal. He was 86.
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Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., president & CEO, SIFMA, said Lebenthal was a legendary figure in the market and “a giant of our industry.”
“For many years he was the public face of municipal bonds through his unique marketing campaign with the memorable tagline: ‘Built by Bonds,’” Bentsen said.
Business Insider
James ‘Built By Bonds’ Lebenthal Has Died
MEGAN DAVIES, HILARY RUSS AND JACK DORAN, REUTERS
NOV. 15, 2014, 6:45 AM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - James Lebenthal, the U.S. municipal bond market’s biggest champion and most eloquent spokesman, died following a heart attack at age 86, his daughter said on Friday.
Lebenthal became a force in the New York municipal bond market in the late 1970s, selling to retail investors for decades via radio and TV commercials.
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In old television and radio ads, he used lines such as “tax-free municipal bonds are my babies” and called himself “Built by Bonds Lebenthal.”