Rockefeller Group May Sell Part of Empire

Rockefeller Group, the investment arm of the wealthy Rockefeller family, said it is exploring ways to overhaul the house that patriarch John D. built. The proposals include selling part of the privately held company, whose flashiest asset is New York’s famed Rockefeller Center.

To provide more cash for Rockefeller heirs, Rockefeller Group is considering the sale of shares, a long-term financial restructuring or a possible joint venture “with selected investors who share the long-term interests of the Rockefeller Group,” the company said in a brief statement.

“Historically, the Rockefeller Group has tried to look at the long term,” Rockefeller Group spokesman Vince Silvestri said in a telephone interview. Proceeds from any transaction would be used to fund future company endeavors and to provide cash for the shareholders--Rockefeller family members and some non-family investors, he said.

Rockefeller Group has hired investment banker Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc. to help evaluate the alternatives, he said. Silvestri would not comment on a Wall Street Journal report, attributed to sources who were not identified, that Rockefeller Group is seeking $1.3 billion to $2 billion and has discussed selling 40% to 80% of the company without giving up family control over company assets.

“This is another part of the effort by the Rockefeller interests to diversify their holdings, and it’s a logical thing to do,” said Joseph Battipaglia, associate director of research at the investment firm of Gruntal & Co. who follows Rockefeller Center Properties, a real estate investment trust whose shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

“There certainly are a lot of capable buyers out there, from Japanese interests to the likes of Prudential,” Battipaglia said. As for the Rockefeller family, whose fortune was founded by oilman-philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, the fifth generation has made it to adulthood, “and they all want to make a name for themselves,” Battipaglia said.

The Rockefeller Group’s first cash-raising move came in 1985 when it sold stock in Rockefeller Center Properties, whose only asset is a $1.3-billion mortgage on part of 56-year-old Rockefeller Center, the 19-building, 22-acre Art Deco complex that contains such landmarks as Radio City Music Hall and the old RCA building, now known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Rockefeller Group also sold a 15% stake to some unidentified investors outside the Rockefeller family in 1985 and has since sold various properties.

The Rockefeller family and the center that bears its name are both rich in history.

It all goes back to John D. Rockefeller, America’s first billionaire, who was born in 1839 in modest circumstances. By trade a bookkeeper, he saved and invested and built what became the great Standard Oil trust. It was broken up in 1911 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Controlled by Trusts

John D.’s second career was that of a philanthropist who gave millions of dollars to charity. In his old age he delighted in having his picture taken as he handed out shiny new dimes to children.

It was his son, John Jr., who built Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller Group is controlled by the trusts that John Jr. established in 1934 to provide for his six children and their descendants, now numbering 85.

Forbes magazine last October estimated the family fortune at $4.8 billion.

Well-known living family members include John D. Jr.’s sons--David, chairman of Rockefeller Group, whose fortune Forbes estimated at $1.1 billion, and Laurance S., whose chunk of the fortune is believed to be about $900 million. Winthrop Paul Rockefeller is the only one of the fourth generation to make Forbes’ list with more than $800 million. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV was governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1984 and is now a U.S. senator.

Rockefeller Center, which opened during the worst of the Depression with 12 buildings, has even been immortalized in song. A line from George and Ira Gershwin’s 1937 ditty titled “They All Laughed” goes: “They all laughed at Rockefeller Center, now they’re begging to get in.”

Varied Holdings

As a privately held company, Rockefeller Group is not required to publicly release financial information, and the company is known for being tight-lipped on such matters. However, the 1989 Macmillan Directory of Leading Private Companies lists Rockefeller Group’s sales as $775 million, a figure that the directory indicates was provided by the company.

Rockefeller Group’s holdings include Rockefeller Center Management Corp., which runs Rockefeller Center; Rockefeller Center Development Corp., which owns developments in New York and New Jersey, and Rockefeller Group Telecommunications Services, which provides telecommunications services for tenants of Rockefeller Center as well as other customers.

Rockefeller Group also owns Radio City Music Hall Productions, an entertainment production company that not only stages the annual Christmas spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, but also such extravaganzas as anniversaries of the Eiffel Tower and the U.S. Constitution.

Another Rockefeller Group holding is its 80% of New York-based Cushman & Wakefield, one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerage firms. (Cushman & Wakefield is a separate firm from Los Angeles-based Cushman Realty.)