Robert Lorsch

Robert H Lorsch

Robert H. “Bob” Lorsch is a Los Angeles businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist.[1]

Career

For over 20 years Lorsch was in the marketing services, advertising and sale promotion industries. In 1985, he founded Beverly Hills-based TeleLine, Inc., whose purpose was to create cause related marketing programs to benefit Special Olympic International, The California Sciences center and other non profits using premium rate 900 number services.[2]

Of the average $8,000 per day Lorsch grosses on his Museum Storyline, the telephone companies get $2,400 plus another $400 in taxes and service charges and he makes a tax-deductible donation of $1,000 to the museum. That leaves Lorsch $4,200 per day to cover his costs and make a profit.

Lorsch maintains that his 976-numbers for the science museum illustrate a major new opportunity in charity fund raising, a rich amalgam of business and charity that fulfills President Reagan's call for private-sector initiatives to reduce reliance on government."In view of the new tax initiative in Congress (which would lower tax rates and thus lessen the value of charitable deductions), this kind of private-sector fund raising is the only way for charities to go," Lorsch contends. (A variety of studies have indicated that as tax rates fall, donations from upper-income taxpayers decline because a larger share of the gift comes out of the giver's pocket and a smaller share out of Uncle Sam's.)

From 1994–98, he was Chief Executive Officer of SmarTalk TeleServices, Inc.,[3] leading the company he co-founded through a public offering in 1996. Prior to that, he partnered with Pacific Bell Information Services to build a voice mailbox system that became part of the WinFax product offerings.

Lorsch founded MyMedicalRecords, Inc. in 2005, leading the company through a merger with the biotechnology company Favrille, Inc., completed in January 2009. Lorsch was elected Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company, which was renamed MMR Information Systems, Inc. and officially became MMRGlobal, Inc. (OTC: MMRF) in June 2010.[4]

Lorsch also heads up the private equity and consulting firm, The RHL Group, Inc.,[5] with diverse interests in e-commerce, entertainment, and biotechnology.

In the 1980s, Lorsch built and headed the Lorsch Creative Network (LCN), a full-service advertising and sales promotion agency specializing in marketing campaigns for “blue chip” national and international clients, including the ABC, CBS and NBC television networks, Campbell's Soup, Procter & Gamble, Marvel Entertainment, Johnson & Johnson, Taco Bell, Northrop Grumman, and McDonald's Corporation, among many others.

Lorsch’s out-of-the-box campaigns was chronicled in the book Barbarians Led by Bill Gates: Microsoft from the Inside, which recounts the first launch of Microsoft. In it, he is described as “a marketing mastermind...a magician who believed anything was possible and simply wouldn’t take no for an answer,” and where in one week “Microsoft had reinvented and redefined the idea of promotion.”

Starting in 1981, Lorsch put his efforts into selling advertising on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station to benefit NASA research programs.[6] He has continued to maintain the currency of his copyrighted proposals and has provided expert testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, expanding the scope of his programs to include future missions to the Moon and Mars.

His career of combining entrepreneurship and philanthropy was the focal point of one of the seven keys to success in the 2007 book, The Millionaire Zone, authored by ABC Radio Host and AOL Family Financial Editor Jennifer Openshaw. His entrepreneurial spirit was also profiled on AOL’s Money & Finance Web portal (“From High School (Almost) Dropout to Having $100 Million”) and in the 2007 book, The Engine of America, written by Hector V. Barreto, former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The personal management of Paralympian sprinter Blake Leeper is currently under the supervision of Robert Lorsch and The RHL Group, Inc. [7]

Philanthropy

Lorsch is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the California Science Center at Exposition Park, also having served a four-year term on the State-appointed Board of Directors; Member of the Board and of the Executive Committee of D.A.R.E. America; Member of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles Police Historical Society; and Member of the Board of the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation. He has also served as a National Vice President and President of the Executive Committee/Western Region of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Further, he has been a major supporter of the John Wayne Cancer Institute; the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation;[5] and the Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.[8]

D.A.R.E. America honored him in 1998, with its Future of America Award at a dinner where he was named D.A.R.E.’s “Man of the Year.”[1][6] The Muscular Dystrophy Association honored Lorsch in 1999 with its esteemed Humanitarian of the Year award;[1][6] the Southern California Chapter of the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America named him Humanitarian of the Year 2000;[9] and Starlight Children’s Foundation (now the Starlight/Starbright Children’s Foundation) honored him in April 2002 with the Golden Wish Award at its 19th annual gala hosted by Jamie Lee Curtis.[1]

On June 5, 2002, Lorsch was recognized by the City of Los Angeles when the Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution commending the entrepreneur/philanthropist for his outstanding charitable work and business leadership, and further honored him by creating “Bob Lorsch Day.”

In October 2003, Lorsch was honored by the Wildlife WayStation with its “Paws of Fame” Humanitarian Award in recognition of his philanthropy and unselfish dedication to the world-renowned animal sanctuary.[10]

He was recognized in 2006, by the U.S. Small Business Administration with its "American Spirit Award" for his efforts in disaster preparedness since the early 1980s and MyMedicalRecords.com’s contribution to disaster preparedness in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.[1]

In 2009, he received the Humanitarian Award from the charitable organizations Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind and Love Across the Ocean.

Personal life

Lorsch resides in Beverly Hills, California with his wife Kira Reed Lorsch.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Robert Lorsch". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  2. ↑ Johnston, David (August 24, 1986). "'Pay Radio' Tunes In Charities, Turns Off Some Consumer Groups".
  3. ↑ Vrana, Debora (1997-07-31). "Fast-Growing SmarTalk to Buy Ohio Firm". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  4. ↑ "MMRGlobal". MMRGlobal. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  5. 1 2 "The RHL Group, Inc". Rhlgroup.com. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  6. 1 2 3 Semuels, Alana (2007-06-10). "Still pitching a far-out idea: ads in space". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  7. ↑ "Blake Leeper runs for redemption, and a place in the Paralympics and Olympics". Sports. latimes.com. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  8. ↑ Jorden, Heather Stewart (1998-09-13). "Charity Scorecard". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  9. ↑ Diroll, Patt (2001-01-01). "They Did It All for Worthy Causes Around Town". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  10. ↑ Dimond, Diane (2012-01-12). "Government Bullies Need Reining in". The Blog. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
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