Business career In 1961, at the age 22, Steinberg founded Leasco Data Processing Equipment Corporation, a computer leasing company that leased
IBM computers. While at Wharton, Steinberg had written a paper about IBM Corp., and he had learned that IBM was charging premium prices to lease its computers. Steinberg discovered that he could offer computer leases that would undercut IBM's prices and still obtain bank financing for the entire purchase price of the computers by using the signed leases as collateral with lenders. Leasco grew rapidly, and in 1965, it went public. Leasco bid to acquire
Reliance Insurance Company, a Philadelphia insurance company ten times the size of Leasco. Reliance had been in business 150 years, having been established in 1817 to provide fire insurance. The attempt failed. Steinberg’s advisors N. M. Rothschild & Sons helped Leasco successfully took over
Pergamon Press from British businessman
Robert Maxwell. The two initially got along, but the relationship quickly soured, and Steinberg was able to rally British investors to oust Maxwell from his position. Steinberg became the CEO of Reliance, and he and his brother were the senior managers of Reliance for the next thirty years. Steinberg took on large amounts of debt during the
junk bond era and grew, apparently by underpricing its insurance policies. In 1995, Steinberg had a serious stroke. He was forced to step back from management of Reliance. The leverage, low pricing on insurance policies led Reliance to financial problems. Management attempted to sell the company. Reliance Group negotiated a transaction to be sold to
Leucadia National in 2000 for stock and the assumption of debt. However, this transaction fell apart in July 2000. Reliance filed for
bankruptcy in 2001 and entered into a long process of liquidation. Steinberg was forced to sell his extensive art collection along with his 17,000 square-foot, 34-room duplex apartment at
740 Park Avenue in Manhattan, which was bought for "slightly above or below $30 million" in 2000 by
Stephen A. Schwarzman of the
Blackstone Group.
Involvement with Wharton Steinberg was a major benefactor of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as chairman of Wharton's Board of Overseers for over 15 years and continued as a member of the board until his death. The Steinberg name is highly visible at Wharton, most notably attached to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, which served as the main undergraduate building, containing classrooms, lounges, computer labs, and departmental offices. The Steinberg Conference Center serves as home to the Executive Education Center and the Aresty Institute of Executive Education. Additionally, Steinberg endowed the Saul P. Steinberg Professor of Management chair.
Charity and advocacy In 2000, Steinberg donated
The Death of Adonis (1614) by
Peter Paul Rubens to the
Israel Museum in Jerusalem. ==Personal life==