15 Facts About Arthur Levitt

Arthur Levitt served from 1993 to 2001 as the twenty-fifth and longest-serving chairman of the commission.

Arthur Levitt attended Brant Lake Camp, a summer camp for boys in the Adirondacks.

Arthur Levitt attended and graduated from Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn in 1948.

Arthur Levitt graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College in 1952, before serving for two years in the Air Force.

Arthur Levitt first worked as a drama critic for The Berkshire Eagle, and after the Air Force, he was with Time-Life for five years before selling cattle and ranches as tax shelters.

Arthur Levitt was appointed to his first five-year term as Chairman of the SEC by President Clinton in July 1993 and reappointed in May 1998.

Arthur Levitt left the Commission on February 9,2001, and was succeeded by Harvey Pitt.

Arthur Levitt has said that he first learned of his being considered for the job from The Wall Street Journal.

At the time Arthur Levitt came to the SEC, the Financial Accounting Standards Board had proposed requiring companies to record stock options on their income statements, which split the accounting industry and was opposed by many in the American business community.

Concerned that insensitivity to this sentiment in Congress might threaten FASB as an independent standard setter, Arthur Levitt urged the FASB to not go ahead with the rule proposal.

In 1997, the SEC under Arthur Levitt's leadership approved the exemption of some Enron partnerships from the tight accounting controls of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Arthur Levitt serves on the Board of Directors for RiskMetrics Group.

In 2005, Arthur Levitt was named a special advisor to the American International Group's board of directors and the board's nominating and corporate governance committee following the resignation of CEO and Chairman Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, who left after an investigation into the firm's accounting practices by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Kroll charged the City of San Diego $21 million for the report, with Arthur Levitt's time billed at $900 per hour.

In January 2001, Arthur Levitt received the "Award for Distinguished Leadership in Global Capital Markets" from the Yale School of Management.