Louise Sunshine

Louise Sunshine
Born Louise Mintz
(1940-12-02) December 2, 1940
Nationality United States
Ethnicity Jewish
Known for founder of the Sunshine Group
Spouse(s) Spouse1 (divorced)
Martin S. Begun
Children Suzanne Sunshine
Samuel Sunshine
Paul Sunshine
Parent(s) Elizabeth Pressman
Nelson Mintz
Family Barney Pressman (grandfather)
Fred Pressman (uncle)

Louise Mintz Sunshine (born December 2, 1940)[1] is an American real estate professional and founder of the Sunshine Group.

Biography

Sunshine is the daughter of Elizabeth Pressman and Nelson Mintz, and a granddaughter of Bertha Pressman and Barney Pressman, the founder of Barneys New York.[2] She graduated from Brandeis University and attended New York University where she took business classes in preparation for taking over her father's real estate portfolio.[3] After school, she served as the finance chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Party[2][4] during Hugh Carey's governorship.[5] She also served as a Democratic National Committeewoman, a member of the state’s Job Development Authority, and Vice Chairman of the State Thruway Authority.[3] In the course of her duties, she met donor Donald J. Trump[3] and from 1973 to 1978, Sunshine worked as an executive vice president for the Trump Organization.[2]

In 1986,[4] she co-founded the real estate marketing and sales company Sunshine Group with Jerry Speyer and Judith A. Banham.[6] The company focused on the sale of luxury condominiums and by 2000, it reached $8 billion in real estate sold.[6] In 2002, she sold the Sunshine Group to NRT LLC, the largest residential real estate brokerage company in the United States.[1] She stayed on with the new company as Chairman and CEO[3] for three years and mentored Kelly Kennedy Mack to be the subsidiary's new president[7][8] officially renamed the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group[4] after being merged with another NRT subsidiary The Corcoran Group (founded by Barbara Corcoran).[3] She was named Chairman Emeritus and acted as senior advisor to President and CEO Pamela Liebman.[3] In July 2006, she took a job with the real estate development company the Alexico Group (founded by Izak Senbahar and Simon Elias).[1] In December 2006, she co-founded the online media company Sundezio with her son Paul Sunshine.[1] In 2012, she founded Sunshine Select Residences which offers furnishings for high-end residences[4] and has served as a consultant on projects by Steven Roth and Joseph Moinian.[4]

Philanthropy

Sunshine and her husband support a wide array of charities including the Jewish Communal Fund, the NYU Langone Medical Center, Worldwide Orphans, the American Jewish World Service, and the American Red Cross.[6]

Personal life

Sunshine has been married twice.[2] Her first husband was a physician with whom she had three children: Suzanne, Samuel, and Paul.[6] The marriage ended in divorce in 1980.[3] In 1997, she married her second husband, Martin S. Begun in a Jewish ceremony in New York.[2] Begun served as vice president for external affairs at the NYU Langone Medical Center and as president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.[2] She has homes in Palm Beach, Florida; Roxbury, Connecticut, and Manhattan.[2] Her daughter Susan Sunshine (born 1964) runs a real estate advisory company that caters to not-for-profits.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Real Deal: "Louise Sunshine" By Lauren Elkies retrieved September 27, 2015
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 New York Times: "Louise Sunshine, Martin S. Begun" February 16, 1997
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Louise Sunshine website: "Louise M. Sunshine" retrieved September 27, 2015
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 The Real Deal: "Louise Sunshine takes on Vornado’s 220 Central Park South New dev marketing legend dishes on "staying relevant" and bringing value to RE through design" By E.B. Solomont April 21, 2015
  5. 1 2 New York Times: "Suzanne Sunshine" By VIVIAN MARINO JULY 2, 2010
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lifestyles Magazine: "Louise Sunshine - Queen of Luxury" by Julie Jacobs September 2008
  7. ↑ Residential marketing and Brokerage news: "Mack Follows The Fast Track Job Of He Dreams" by Linda Barr February 28, 2007
  8. ↑ The Observer: "On Shlock and Shvo: Louise Sunshine Rebrands Herself" by Chris Shott September 4, 2007
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