Ronald E. Weinberg

Ron Weinberg began his career as a serial deal maker and business operator before the coining of the phrase “private equity”. In the 1970’s and ‘80’s the scale of transactions for all but larger public companies were much smaller and the lending sources more limited than today. 

Ron hit his stride with the rapid-fire acquisition of three companies, a chain of weekly newspapers, (a good industry pre-internet), a chain of retail optical stores, and a manufacturer of brake materials for the Aerospace, automotive specialty, and heavy equipment industries. He combined deal making with a patient focus on organic growth and the tools of good management. 

The result was three successes. The newspapers were the chain of Sun Newspapers in Cleveland which, after the acquisition of a similar chain in Milwaukee, was successfully exited. The retail optical stores were headquartered in Phoenix and taken public in a successful IPO and later exited by selling the public company.

The manufacturing company, Hawk Corporation was also taken public (NYSE) and built from one plant with $19 million in sales to 16 facilities worldwide with $400 million at its height. The successful exit earned them a place in Mario Gabelli’s Gamco Hall of Fame. 

Following the 2010 cash sale of Hawk to a large public company, Ron created a family office and continued investing through Weinberg Capital Group which his son Chip had launched several years earlier.   

Ron continues to remain active in both his business activities and the civic community. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Clinic and has chaired its Research and Education Committee. In the past he served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cleveland State University and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Washington based U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He served as an appointee of Governor Bob Taft to the 2007 Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration and Innovation Study. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Visiting Nurse Association, and he also served on the Advisory Board of Empower America, a Washington based advocacy organization founded by Jack Kemp.

Ron grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.  He received a B.A. in Science from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Terri, spend time in Nantucket and Naples, Florida and remain close to Cleveland.