Harold K. Hochschild (May 20, 1892 – January 23, 1981) was the president of the American Metal Company, a conservationist, a philanthropist, and the founder of the Adirondack Museum.[1]
Early life
Hochschild was born to a Jewish family,[2] in New York on May 20, 1892, the son of Mathilde (née Blumenthal) and Berthold Hochschild. His brother was Walter Hochschild.[3] In 1912, he graduated from Yale University and joined his father's company, the American Metal Company (AMCO), a smelter and refiner of ores and scrap.[3]
Career
Prior to World War I, AMCO made a minority investment in Climax Molybdenum Company, the world's largest producer of molybdenum named after the Climax mine; the investment paid off due to increased demand from the war.[1] In 1930, AMCO purchased a major interest in two of the world's largest copper mines in Africa.[1] In 1934, he was elected president of AMCO.[3] While Hochschild served in the Army during World War II, the family business boomed, thanks to the demand brought about by the war; he returned to the US as a lieutenant colonel.[3] Under his tenure, AMCO expanded into petroleum, potash, and silver.[1] In 1947, he was elected as board chairman; in 1950, he was replaced as president by his brother, Walter Hochschild.[3]
In 1957, the American Metal Company merged with the Climax Molybdenum Company.[1][3] The new entity was renamed AMAX Inc. and Hochschild retired as CEO.[1][3] In 1993, AMAX merged with the Cyprus Mines Corporation to form Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, the world's leading producer of molybdenum and lithium, and a leading producer of copper and coal. In 1999, Cyprus Amax Minerals was acquired by Phelps Dodge Corporation which in turn was acquired by Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) in 2007, forming the world's largest copper producer.[4][5]
In 1941, he married Mary Marquand, daughter of Eleanor and Professor Allan Marquand, founder of the art department at Princeton University.[3] His wife was of English and Scottish descent and predeceased him in 1974.[3] They had one son, Adam Hochschild (born October 5, 1942), a writer and journalist who married to sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild.
^Berman, Edward H. (1983). The ideology of philanthropy: the influence of the Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller foundations on American foreign policy. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 131–132. ISBN978-0-87395-726-7.
