Leucadia National history

Steinberg both joined the investment banking firm of Carl Marks & Company in 1970.

The investors formed Uintah National Corp. in 1976 to purchase a controlling interest in Talcott National.

Cumming was elected as Talcott National's chairman and president in mid 1978.

Once divested of the company's factoring unit, Cumming and Steinberg set out to expand Leucadia's operations through acquisition, a strategy they would employ throughout the decade and one they first put into practice in December of 1980.

Several years later, in 1982, after Talcott National had become Leucadia and the company's stock began to soar, Grant filed a lawsuit against Cumming, accusing him of breach of contract and violations of fiduciary duty and security laws.

In 1983 the company earned $20.7 million on sales of just $180 million.

But the distance has apparently not been harmful to Leucadia, which in 1984 earned $71 million on revenues of $232.2 million.

Leucadia's investments were strengthened considerably in 1988, when Leucadia increased its interest to 64 percent in PHLCorp., a company it became involved in during a failed takeover four years earlier.

An enormous step toward that direction was achieved in 1991, when the company acquired Colonial Penn Group Insurance Co. from FPL Group for $150 million.

By the conclusion of 1993, after 15 years of Cumming's and Steinberg's leadership, the value of Leucadia had increased considerably.

But Steinberg and Cumming reconsidered their decision to fold up their tent after all and instead distributed $812 million to shareholders in 1999 and reentered the acquisition game.

By the time Williams Communications was spun off as a public company in April 2001, the telecommunications industry was in trouble.

Leucadia came to the rescue of another company, the bankrupt Williams Communications, in 2002.

In turn, sales by WilTel to SBC Communications Inc. accounted for 65 percent of that business during 2003.

In 2005, Leucadia received a jolt when WilTel's largest customer announced plans to buy AT&T Corp.

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Frater is the chief executive of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and the Leucadia National Corporation.By Vivian MarinoApril 23, 2013