Alvin Schottenstein

Alvin, late husband of Beverley Schottenstein, was one of four sons of Ephraim Schottenstein, an immigrant from Lithuania who sold overstock goods from a buggy before opening his first shop in Columbus in 1917. The sons expanded Schottenstein Stores Corp., with Alvin as its president, until his death in 1984. A half-decade later Beverley and her children cashed out of the family business with a $90 million legal settlement—about $18 million each for Beverley and her four children. Relatives of one of Alvin’s brothers kept expanding the Schottenstein retail business and wealth. They donated generously, putting the Schottenstein name on an Ohio State University arena, an edition of the Talmud and an honors program and residence hall at Manhattan’s Yeshiva University. Beverley’s brood became, relatively speaking, the poorer side of the clan.