Vector Group

Vector Group Ltd.

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: VGR
Industry	Diversified holding
Genre	Holding company
Founded	1999
Founder	Bennett S. LeBow
Headquarters	4400 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, Florida 33137, United States
Key people	Bennett S. LeBow Chairman Howard Lorber President and Chief Executive Officer
Products	Alcoholic beverages, hotels, mortgage services, property management, tobacco, real estate
Revenue	$1.6 billion (FY 2014)
Net income	$37.0 million (FY 2014)
Total assets	$1.6 billion (FY 2014)
Number of employees	1,090
Subsidiaries	Liggett Group Liggett Vector Brands LLC New Valley LLC Vector Tobacco
Website	vectorgroupltd.com

Vector Group Ltd. is an American publicly traded holding company, headquartered at 4400 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, Florida.

It was founded in 1999 by its chairman, financier Bennett S. LeBow. Howard Lorber serves as the company's president and chief executive officer.^[1]

In 2013, Forbes magazine named the Vector Group as one of "America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies".^[2]

Holdings

Subsidiaries

• Liggett Group – a tobacco company; founded in 1873; maker of Eve 120s-branded discount products; and Pyramid, Grand Prix and Liggett Select products in the deep discount category; also produces a number of private-label and distributor-exclusive brands for a total of more than 136 brand styles
• Liggett Vector Brands LLC – coordinates the sales and marketing, along with certain support functions, for both Liggett Group and Vector Tobacco
• New Valley LLC (formerly known as Western Union) – seeks to acquire additional operating companies and real estate companies; owns 70 percent of Douglas Elliman, which operates the largest residential brokerage company in the New York metropolitan area
• Vector Tobacco Inc. – engaged in research relating to reduced-risk cigarette products and in the manufacture of conventional cigarettes; based in North Carolina

Investments and real estate holdings

• 100 Eleventh Avenue – a real estate development, which features a 23-story tower at the intersection of 19th Street and the West Side Highway, along the Hudson River in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York; designed by French architect Jean Nouvel; consists of 54 luxury residential units and one commercial unit
• 125 Greenwich Street – a proposed residential supertall skyscraper located in the Financial District, Manhattan, New York City, designed by architect Rafael Viñoly
• 20 Times Square – a large mixed-use 39-story development located at 701 Seventh Avenue on the northeast corner of West 47th Street in Times Square, Manhattan at the top of the Times Square 'bow tie'
• Castle Brands (NYSE: ROX) (11% ownership) – an international importer and marketer of premium spirits; brands include Clontarf Whiskey, Boru Vodka and Gosling's Rum
• CoCrystal Discovery – a privately held biopharmaceutical company; co-founded by Roger D. Kornberg, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; the company is focused on the discovery and development of new antiviral therapeutics for the treatment of serious and chronic viral diseases
• Escena – a 450-acre approved master-planned community in Palm Springs, California; includes 867 residential lots with site and public infrastructure, an 18-hole golf course, a substantially completed clubhouse, and a seven-acre site approved for a 450-room hotel
• Ladenburg Thalmann (NYSE: LTS) (7.6% ownership) – an investment bank and stock brokerage; founded in 1876
• Morgans Hotel Group (NASDAQ: MHGC) (7.1% ownership) – a hospitality company that owns and operates boutique hotels as well as acquiring and redeveloping in the United States and Europe; hotels owned or managed include the Mondrian Hotel, the Delano Hotel and the Shore Club Hotel. Vector CEO, Howard Lorber, serves as chairman of Morgans Hotel Group
• Park Lane Hotel – a New York City luxury hotel located at 36 Central Park South, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown Manhattan, overlooking Central Park
• OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK) – a specialty healthcare company, engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of proprietary pharmaceuticals, drug delivery technologies, diagnostic systems, and instruments for the treatment, diagnosis, and management of ophthalmic disorders
• SG Blocks (OTCBB: SGBX) (8.8% ownership) – redesigns, repurposes, and converts heavy-gauge steel cargo shipping containers into safe green building blocks for commercial, industrial, and residential building construction applications; also offers architectural and engineering design, pre-development, and project management services, as well as oversight of the building erection, cladding, and finishes.
• Sesto Holdings S.r.l. – New Valley, through its NV Milan LLC subsidiary, acquired a 7.2-percent interest in Sesto Holdings S.r.l. for $5 million in October 2010; Sesto holds a 42-percent interest in an entity that has purchased approximately 322 acres in Milan, Italy; Sesto intends to develop the land as a multi-parcel, multi-building mixed-use urban-regeneration project

Former investments

• Brigham's Ice Cream
• Embraer – held its initial public offering in 2000 (NYSE: ERJ)
• MAI Basic Four
• L&M – acquired by Altria
• Liggett Ducat – acquired by the Gallaher Group
• SkyBox International – acquired by Marvel Entertainment
• Thinking Machines – acquired by Oracle Corporation
• Western Union – acquired by First Data

Additional offices

The company has additional offices at 712 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.

See also

• List of Florida companies
• List of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange

References

1. Database (undated). "Vector Grp Ltd". Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
2. Smith, Jacquelyn (March 18, 2013). "America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies". Forbes. Retrieved June 14, 2014.

External links

• vectorgroupltd.com, the company's official website
• • Business data for Vector Group Ltd.:
  • Reuters
  • SEC filings