Warren Van Dyke "Pete" Musser was the chairman of the Musser Group.
12 Facts About Pete Musser
1.
2.
Pete Musser was the founder of Safeguard Scientifics, a venture capital firm that invested in technology companies.
3.
At the peak of the dot-com bubble, Musser was a billionaire on paper; however, when the bubble burst, he lost almost his entire fortune.
4.
Pete Musser was a philanthropist and The Pete Musser Foundation has donated over $50 million to organizations including the Boy Scouts of America.
5.
Pete Musser has served on the board of directors of the Cradle of Liberty Council.
6.
Pete Musser was born in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area on December 15,1926 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering at Lehigh University in 1949.
7.
In 1955, his company acquired Safe-Guard Corporation and in 1966, Pete Musser's firm changed its name to Safeguard Industries.
8.
Pete Musser invested in technology companies in Philicon Valley such as QVC, Comcast, and Novell, which resulted in a $200 million profit.
9.
On November 29,2000, after the burst of the dot-com bubble, to repay a loan, Pete Musser was forced to sell 6.5 million of his shares in Safeguard Scientifics for $8.25 per share, or $53.7 million.
10.
In 2003, Pete Musser defaulted on a $26.5 million loan from Safeguard Scientifics.
11.
Pete Musser was a member of the board of directors of Brandywine Realty Trust from 1996, when the company acquired properties from a joint venture of Safeguard Scientifics, until 2002.
12.
Pete Musser spent lavishly on his residences, building his-and-hers tennis courts on his Nantucket residence and spending $100,000 on special garage doors.