Al Lerner

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lerner was the only son of Russian-Jewish immigrants.^[2] His parents owned a small candy store and sandwich shop in Queens, New York. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and then Columbia College, the liberal arts college at Columbia University, graduating in 1955.^[1] While attending Columbia College, Lerner was initiated into the Delta chapter of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He served as a pilot in the United States Marines from 1955 to 1957, serving in Quantico, Virginia and Pensacola, Florida.

After the Marines, Lerner began selling furniture, earning $75 a week.^[1] eventually saving enough money to buy an apartment building in Cleveland, Ohio.^[3] His real estate portfolio grew and in 1990, he became a major shareholder in MNC Financial, the parent corporation of Maryland National Bank, which was at the time the largest bank headquartered in the State of Maryland. Struggling with real estate loans in the midst of the savings and loan crisis, MNC soon needed leadership and Lerner stepped in as chief executive officer. He tried unsuccessfully to sell the bank's most successful unit, credit card issuer MBNA, to raise cash. In 1991, he took MBNA public, investing $100 million of his own money to ensure the success of the initial sale of stock. Controversial MBNA would blossom into the second largest credit card issuer.

He was also the chairman of Town and Country Trust,^[3] which owns and operates more than 15,000 apartment units in the mid-Atlantic region.

In 1998, Lerner purchased the franchise rights of Cleveland Browns of the National Football League paying $530 million, a record for a sports franchise at the time, outdistancing the next closest bid by $30 million.^[4] The runner-up bid was from Cablevision Systems chairman Charles Dolan and his brother and future Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan.

Prior to that, Lerner held a 5% stake in the old Cleveland Browns franchise.^[5] In 1995, he assisted his friend at the time Art Modell, former owner of the Browns, in moving Modell's NFL franchise rights from Cleveland to Baltimore. Lerner introduced Modell to Baltimore financiers of the deal, and he sat behind on the podium at Modell's press conference announcing the team's move. However, many Browns fans were angered after word leaked that Modell's deal to move the Browns to Baltimore was signed on Lerner's private jet. One attorney for season ticket holders that had sued Modell later stated, “I view, in many respects, Lerner as big of a culprit in this, if not a bigger one than Modell. It was very clear from the stuff that we saw that Lerner egged him on and supported his decision to leave and then tried to run away from responsibility when the shit hit the fan.”^[6] The two stopped talking shortly thereafter. In 1997, Modell paid $32 million to buy out Lerner's stake in the Baltimore Ravens, which had grown to 9%.^[5][7]

After his death, his wife and son Randy Lerner took over the Browns franchise. Lerner's initials were stitched on the sleeves of the Browns jerseys every season until the 2013 NFL season when they were removed from the jerseys under new team owner Jimmy Haslam.