Posted by
AJH on Friday, February 08, 2008 2:02:32 AM
James L. Sorenson
dies at 86
The Man Behind the
Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation
James LeVoy
Sorenson, an entrepreneur and inventor whose innovations made him the
wealthiest man in Utah, died Sunday, January 20 at a Salt Lake City
hospital.
Sorenson was a
renowned philanthropist, whose wealth was estimated by Forbes
magazine to be $4.5 billion. He was 68th on the list of
richest Americans last year. Sorenson was 86 years old.
He was the
billionaire no one ever heard of, although richer than Donald Trump
and Ted Turner. Jim Sorenson kept a much lower profile. He never
became a household name, and he carefully avoided the media
spotlight.
Among his
philanthropic endeavors was the Sorenson
Molecular Genealogy Foundation. The foundation is creating a
worldwide, correlated genetic database to help in genealogical
research.
Sorenson lived a
modest life in Salt Lake City. At age 83, he still worked more than
40 hours every week in his office. His new non-profit foundation
consumed much of his time. He hoped the foundation would help show
that all people are related to each other in some way, a basic
concept that could help foster world peace.
His vision for a
comprehensive genome database of mankind was probably his last and
greatest challenge. He poured millions into the SMGF, employing about
20 people, half of whom had doctorate degrees, dedicated to advancing
the project.
After the tsunami of
2004 devastated southeast Asia, he donated DNA testing kits to assist
in identifying the dead, and Sorenson Genomics — one of his
companies — analyzed their DNA, matching some victims with their
relatives. The kits and analysis were valued at $1.5 million.
"This is my
legacy to my heirs," he said at the time, noting that he and his
wife, Beverley, have two sons, six daughters, and more than 60
grandchildren. "I want to leave a better world for them."
Those closest to
Sorenson said he had a gift for coming up with broad ideas and then
surrounding himself with people who could implement the details.
"He has a
thousand ideas," says H. Gary Pehrson, regional vice president
for Intermountain Health Care hospital, based in Salt Lake City.
"Then he takes the best ones and finds people who can make them
happen."
Sorenson was 13 when
his father had a chance to grab the Coca-Cola distributorship in
three northern California counties for $2,300. The young teenager
begged the elder Sorenson to do it and offered to drop out of school
and help run the business. But his father backed away.
"He wouldn't
take the risk," Sorenson said. He said that it was a life
lesson. "Have courage to bet on yourself."
In 2004 Sorenson
told an audience at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, where he'd
spent one semester before heading out into the business world, that
the database would contribute to world peace as people realize that
genetics crosses cultural and ethnic boundaries.
Sorenson used his
public talk to 450 faculty and staff members to spread the word about
his next big thing: a genetic database that he believed would
ultimately break down ethnic, political and social barriers.
"We're all
connected. We're all children of God," he said.
A genetic
clearinghouse could have plenty of commercial value - as well as
moral and ethical ambiguities. Sorenson said the money doesn't
interest him.
Sorenson did not
know exactly how much he was worth nor he did he seem to care. His
portfolio included $2.5 billion in Abbott Laboratories stock, and his
$1.4 billion in Utah land holdings was second only to the federal
government. Yet those are only part of his financial portfolio.
Sorenson's net worth is believed to be greater than that of Ted
Turner ($2.4 billion), Donald Trump ($2.5 billion) or H. Ross Perot
($3.8 billion), according to Forbes magazine.
"His inventions
changed critical care medicine virtually overnight," says Fred
P. Lampropoulos, chairman and CEO of Utah-based Merit Medical Systems
Inc.
He was the owner of
the Sorenson Companies, a parent group to 32 corporations in
industries from medicine, bioscience, investment, development to
manufacturing.
"I think
success in his mind was someone that had ideas, that had a strong
work ethic and a tenacity," son James Lee Sorenson told the
Deseret Morning News. "As you look at examples in the world
today, those are important attributes. I think Dad was a calculated
risk-taker, and successful people generally are. Successful people
are generally in it for the long haul. With Dad, unlike many, he
started with nothing or less than nothing and built it from the
ground floor."
The elder Sorenson
graduated from high school without any special honors and then spent
one semester at what is now Sierra College in Rocklin, California. He
dropped out to enter the business world although his career was
interrupted by World War II. He served in the U.S. Marines. After the
war ended, Sorenson returned home, soon becoming a salesman for the
Upjohn Company, selling drugs in the Salt Lake City area. He then
went into the real estate business and made a fortune. Later still,
he invented the first disposable surgical mask, plastic catheters,
and a blood recycling system that retrieves, cleanses, and reinfuses
a patient's own blood during surgery.
Sorenson's companies
are headquartered in a two-story cinder block building in south Salt
Lake City.
Inside, his
self-decorated office was jokingly described as "early American
insurance salesman" by one staffer. None of his inventions were
on display.
"What's the
point?" Sorenson said. "That's history. I'd rather look
ahead."
But the largest
picture in his office showed him as a smiling 3-year-old in front of
the spartan Yuba City family home. "Bandy Track Ally," he
said, pointing to the photo. "Rough part of town. We celebrated
when my dad put in a shower and a toilet."
He donated land and
money to help build the Sorenson Unity Center at California Avenue
and 900 West, next door to the Sorenson Multicultural Center. The
YMCA's Camp Rogers in the Uinta Mountains also benefited from his
generosity.
"He was one
that had great tenacity in the face of conventional wisdom and common
practice and stuck to his ideas and persevered and succeeded. He's
been looked at as a visionary man, but I would say there was a real
practical side of him, where he was able to make those visions come
true by never giving up and methodically working at them and
succeeding. So, from a business perspective, he was one of those very
uncommon, interesting entrepreneurs who thought outside of the box
and tenaciously went after what he thought was right."
In April 2007, he
gave $6 million to the new Intermountain Medical Center, raising his
contributions to Intermountain Healthcare to $22 million. He pledged
$500,000 during a fundraiser for Primary Children's Medical Center in
June 2007. In September 2007, the nonprofit Sorenson Legacy
Foundation donated $6 million to the University of Utah, toward the
James LeVoy Sorenson Center, which will be dedicated to encouraging
innovation and discovery among students across Utah.
A crisis concerning
the Legislature's refusal to fund some items in the state Medicaid
program was averted in 2006 when Mr. Sorenson and Intermountain
Healthcare donated $1 million each. The next year, the Legislature
picked up the tab.
"He was
interested in philanthropy and helping people — a lot of people,"
James Lee Sorenson said. "It was a variety of different things,
and they were not necessarily things that were calculated. As he saw
needs and was moved a certain direction, then he would help them in
any way he could, sometimes with ideas as well as money, and with
things that we probably aren't all aware of.
"He had a great
love for people and a great altruistic desire for peace, particularly
in the latter part of his life. The whole DNA project and his
foundation and the money that's been spent there was really motivated
by helping people to see how they're related, and, through that, gain
a greater sense of belonging or kinship and get people thinking a
little bit more about each other."
Miles White, chief
executive officer of Abbott Laboratories, has characterized Mr.
Sorenson as "an American original who spent his legendary career
developing innovations that have greatly enhanced the quality of
health care, and improved and saved lives."
"Jim Sorenson
is one of the world's most prolific and productive pioneers of
medical devices," White said. "His inventions had a
monumental impact, and they've stood the test of time. Look in any
modern operating room or intensive care unit, and you'll see enduring
evidence of Jim's creative solutions to tough medical problems."
Mr. Sorenson is also
known for a gift he took back in the summer of 1989.
Then-U. President
Chase Peterson persuaded Mr. Sorenson to donate $15 million of Abbott
Laboratories stock to the U.'s School of Medicine and promised to add
Mr. Sorenson's name to the medical school. But rumblings by faculty,
students and the community led to controversy over the proposed name
change, and those opposed to the gift had legislation drawn up that
would remove Mr. Sorenson's name from the school. Ultimately, Mr.
Sorenson asked the university to return the $15 million in stock.
After beginning his
career selling pharmaceuticals to physicians for Upjohn Co. in Salt
Lake City, Mr. Sorenson started buying real estate in the Salt Lake
area. In 1957 he co-founded Deseret Pharmaceutical, and the company
became the foundation for the establishment of Becton Dickinson
Vascular Access. In 1962, he founded Sorenson Research, which was
sold to Abbott Laboratories, a Fortune 100 company, in 1980.
He founded LeVoy's,
a company that made lingerie for modest women and used
Tupperware-style marketing with parties hosted in homes. He also
owned and developed thousands of acres of commercial, residential and
agricultural properties throughout Utah.
He was elected to
the national executive board of the National Conference of Christians
and Jews in 1991.
Sorenson held more
than 40 medical patents in his lifetime and is perhaps best known for
co-developing the first real-time computerized heart monitor. He also
invented the disposable paper surgical mask, the plastic venous
catheter and a blood recycling system for trauma and surgical
procedures, as well as many other medical innovations.
Not bad for a boy
who grew up in Yuba City, Calif., where teachers thought he was
mentally retarded and told his mother he would never learn to read.
It was decades later that Mr. Sorenson learned he had dyslexia.
James LeVoy Sorenson
was a baby when his parents, Joseph and Emma, moved from Idaho to a
tar-papered chicken coop in Yuba City, California, where Joseph dug
sewer lines for a living. James Sorenson was an undiagnosed dyslexic,
labeled "retarded" by his first-grade teacher. However, his
mother refused to give up on him. With her help, he learned to read.
"I developed
ways to compensate for my disability," Sorenson says. "I
learned to look at things differently, to slow down and contemplate
what was going on. The deficit became a plus."
Mr. Sorenson, who
was born in Rexburg, Idaho, and grew up in central California, is
survived by Beverley Taylor Sorenson, his wife of 60 years, and two
sons, six daughters, 47 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.
His body has been
buried at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.