Steven Rales

About Steven Rales

Who is it?: Chairman, Danaher
Birth Year: 1951
Birth Place: Santa Barbara, California, United States
Alma mater: B.A. DePauw University J.D. American University
Occupation: Businessman Film producer
Known for: co-founder of Danaher Corporation
Spouse(s): Christine Plank (divorced) Lalage Damerell
Children: 3 (with Plank)
Parent(s): Ruth Rales Norman Rales
Family: Mitchell Rales (brother)

Steven Rales

Steven Rales was born on 1951 in Santa Barbara, California, United States, is Chairman, Danaher. Steven Rales and his brother Mitchell acquired a REIT in 1983 and merged their profitable acquisitions into the firm, called Danaher. Focused on tax avoidance and cash flow, they acquired more than three dozen companies and turned Danaher into a firm with $20 billion in revenue. In July 2016, the industrial conglomerate spun off some of its assets into a new company, Fortive Corporation. Danaher had $16.9 billion in sales in 2016: Rales serves as the chairman of the board at the company.
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Biography/Timeline

1969

Rales graduated in 1969 from Walt Whitman High School, in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1973, he graduated from DePauw University, where he was in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. In 1978, he was awarded a J.D. from the American University.

1979

In 1979, he left his father's real estate firm to found Equity Group Holdings, with his brother Mitchell Rales. Using Jun K bonds, they bought a Diversified line of businesses: first Mastershield, a vinyl siding manufacturer, then Mohawk Rubber Company, then Diversified Mortgage Group. They changed the name to Diversified Mortgage Investors, in 1978, and then Danaher, in 1984.

1980

In the 1980s, the AM side of WGMS was sold off to Washington, D.C., venture capitalists Steven and Mitchell Rales, who converted the music station into the first frequency for WTEM, a sports-talk station, in 1992.

1983

In 1983, he married Christine Plank, a 1974 DePauw University alumna. They have three children, Alexander, Gregory, and Stephanie. They divorced in 2003. In 2012, he married Lalage Damerell.

1984

He has served as Chairman of the Board of Danaher since January, 1984.

1985

In 1985, they bought Easco Corporation, the then-largest independent aluminum extrusion manufacturer, and hand tool manufacturer which produced the Craftsman brand of sockets and wrenches for Sears.

1988

In 1988, they made a hostile takeover bid for Interco (including Converse, and Ethan Allen). When the company responded with a poison pill, they sued, and prevailed in court. They later ended the bid after five months with a profit of $60 million.

1995

In 1995 Steven and Mitchell Rales founded Colfax Corporation, a Richmond, Virginia industrial pumps manufacturer. In May 2008, Steven engineered the initial public offering of the company.

2002

He has been a major supporter of the Washington Ballet. In 2002, he was a major donor in the dedication of the Peeler Art Center at DePauw University. He was a donor to GolfRocks.

2007

Rales owns the production company Indian Paintbrush, which has funded The Darjeeling Limited (2007), and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009).

2011

The company was also involved in Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), Labor Day (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), and Isle of Dogs (2018).

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