Craig Berkman
{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Craig Berkman
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Craig Lamont Willoughby
| office = Chair of the Oregon Republican Party
| term_start = 1989
| term_end = 1993
| birth_date = {{birth date and age |1941|8|12}}
| birth_place = Sioux City, Iowa, United States
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| alma_mater = McDaniel High School
Wheaton College
University of California, Berkeley
Lewis & Clark Law School
| religion =
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| parents =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Susan
- Karen Hinsdale (until 2002)
- Mary Ann Farrell Karlsson (until 2017)
}}
| children = two daughters with Susan
| signature =
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Craig L. Berkman (born August 12, 1941) is an American venture capitalist and a Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was known as a major donor in national Republican circles. He chaired the Oregon Republican Party in the early 1990s, opposing the far right Oregon Citizens Alliance. He ran for chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1993 and for Governor of Oregon in 1996, losing the former race to Haley Barbour and the latter to Denny Smith in the primary election.{{cite news
|title=The ever-charming Craig Berkman
|first=Jeff
|last=Mapes
|work=The Oregonian
|date=May 30, 2008
|url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2008/05/the_evercharming_craig_berkman.html
|access-date=2017-07-14
}}
Berkman served as Oregon's state Republican Party chairman from 1989 to 1993 and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon in 1994.{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2013/33-9394.pdf |title=United States of America before the Securities and Exchange Commission |publisher=Sec.gov |access-date=2013-12-01}}
He was arrested in March 2013 in the Tampa, Florida suburb of Odessa, where he has a $3.94 million home,{{cite news|last=Jaquiss|first=Nigel|author-link=Nigel Jaquiss|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-5261-the_talented_mr_berkman.html |title=The Talented Mr. Berkman: The rise and fall of Portland's best-known venture capitalist |newspaper=Willamette Week |date= January 24, 2006|access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite news|last=Rogoway|first=Mike|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/06/craig_bermans_guilty_plea_coul.html |title=Craig Berkman's guilty plea could cost his prior victims in Oregon |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=June 26, 2013 |access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite web|last=Lewis|first=Al|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/an-alleged-scheme-to-pay-off-the-last-scheme-2013-03-22 |title=An alleged scheme to pay off the last scheme |publisher=MarketWatch |date=March 22, 2013 |access-date=2017-07-14}} on charges of selling pre-IPO shares of Facebook.{{cite news
|title=Craig Berkman arrested over sales of pre-IPO Facebook shares
|date=March 19, 2013
|first=Matthew
|last=Kish
|work=Portland Business Journal
|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2013/03/19/sec-charges-craig-berkman-pre-IPO-sales.html
}}
In June 2013, Berkman pleaded guilty to securities and wire fraud at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/oregon-governor-candidate-admits-fraudently-selling-facebook-shares-article-1.1382083 |title=Former Oregon candidate pleads guilty to fraud involving Facebook shares |newspaper=New York Daily News |date= June 25, 2013|agency=Reuters|access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite web|last=Vaughan |first=Bernard |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ipo-berkman-idUSBRE95O12T20130625 |title=Former Oregon politician pleads guilty to Facebook IPO fraud |publisher=Reuters |date=June 25, 2013 |access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite web|last=Van Voris|first=Bob |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-25/ex-candidate-pleads-guilty-in-phony-facebook-share-scam.html |title=Ex-Candidate Pleads Guilty in Phony Facebook Share Scam |publisher=Bloomberg |date=June 25, 2013 |access-date=2013-12-01|url-access=subscription }}{{cite news|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-30360-craig_berkman_pleads_guilty_in_facebook_fraud.html |title=Craig Berkman Pleads Guilty in Facebook Fraud |newspaper=Willamette Week |date=June 25, 2013|access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite press release|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/June13/CraigBerkmanPlea.php |title=Florida Investment Fund Manager Pleads Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court In Connection With $13 Million Securities Fraud Scheme |publisher=U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York |date=June 25, 2013|access-date=2013-12-01}}{{cite web|last=Neumeister|first=Larry|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/06/25/fla-man-pleads-guilty-facebook-share-case/qbETz4Svz5XSwKI9BfeeOP/story.html |title=Fla. man pleads guilty in $13M Facebook share case|newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=June 26, 2013|agency=Associated Press |access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite web|last=Van Voris|first=Bob |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-06-25/former-candidate-pleads-guilty-in-phony-facebook-share-scam-1 |title=Former Candidate Pleads Guilty in Phony Facebook Share Scam (1) |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date= June 25, 2013|access-date=2017-07-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203140910/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-06-25/former-candidate-pleads-guilty-in-phony-facebook-share-scam-1 |archive-date=2013-12-03 }} On December 16, 2013, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison, and will be required to repay $8.4 million to investors.{{cite news|last=Manning|first=Jeff|title=Craig Berkman, financier and former Oregon governor candidate, gets 6 years in prison for fraud|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2013/12/post_176.html|access-date=December 17, 2013|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=December 17, 2013|page=A5}}
Early life and education
Craig Berkman was born Craig Lamont Willoughby in Sioux City, Iowa. His biological father was Roford "Pinky" Berkman.{{cite news|last=Walth|first=Brent|title=Candidate profile [of Craig Berkman]: Something to prove|newspaper=The Register-Guard|location=Eugene, Oregon|date=April 17, 1994|pages=1A, 4A|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19940417&id=j0xWAAAAIBAJ&pg=3014,3894320|access-date=2017-07-14}} Craig Berkman was raised poor in the Roseway neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. As Craig Berkman, he graduated from Madison High School, went to Wheaton College in Illinois on a scholarship and later earned graduate degrees from University of California, Berkeley and Lewis & Clark Law School. Berkman was a trustee of Lewis & Clark College.{{cite web|author=Craig L. Berkman |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=4171635&privcapId=1173980&previousCapId=4171462&previousTitle=Lewis%20&%20Clark%20College |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203083726/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=4171635&privcapId=1173980&previousCapId=4171462&previousTitle=Lewis%20&%20Clark%20College |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |title=Craig Berkman: Executive Profile & Biography |publisher=Bloomberg Businessweek |access-date=2013-12-01}}
Work history
In 1971, Berkman worked for a brief period on the staff of Portland city commissioner (council member) Connie McCready. He was elected in 1978 to the Metropolitan Service District's council, in Portland, where fellow councillors named him chairman, and served from 1979 to 1981. He quit in 1981 after his business interests began taking so much time that he had been missing more than half of the council meetings.
Berkman was chairman of the Oregon Republican Party from 1989–1993. He was chairman of high-technology and medical equipment companies. He worked as an administrative aide at his alma mater Lewis & Clark College.
Criminal history
Berkman was sentenced to six years in prison for a scheme that cost investors $16 million in investments.{{cite web|last=Huntley|first=Helen|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/23/news_pf/Business/Newcomer_with_a_past.shtml |title=Financier nests in Tampa Bay; Newcomer with a past |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=February 23, 2006 |access-date=2013-12-01|url-access=subscription }}{{cite web|last=Rood |first=Justin |url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/07/for-mccain-anot.html|title=For McCain, Another Problem Fundraiser |work=ABC News|date=September 7, 2008|access-date=2013-12-01}}{{cite web|last=Kish|first=Matthew|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/print-edition/2013/03/22/berkman-investors-bruised-years-later.html?ana=twt |title=Berkman investors bruised years later|newspaper= Portland Business Journal |date=March 22, 2013 |access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite web|last=Kerr |first=Dara |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57575263-93/sec-probe-on-facebook-pre-ipo-sales-ends-in-financiers-arrest/ |title=SEC probe on Facebook pre-IPO sales ends in financier's arrest | Internet & Media |publisher=CNET News |date=March 19, 2013 |access-date=2013-12-01}}
Personal life
Berkman was married to Susan Woodward. They had two daughters.
Berkman was married to Karen Hinsdale-Berkman, who is the owner of wine shop The Cellar Door, on the board of directors of Self Enhancement Inc., and secretary of the Oregon Republican Foundation.{{cite news|last=Binole|first=Gina|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1999/06/07/story7.html?page=all |title=The Sultan of Splitsville |newspaper=Portland Business Journal |date=June 6, 1999 |access-date=2017-07-14}}{{cite web|author=WW Editorial Staff|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-7939-we-feel-relevant.html |title=We feel "relevant." |newspaper=Willamette Week |date=October 30, 2007 |access-date=2013-12-01}}{{cite web|url=http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/07jan/president.html |title=Welcome to the Oregon State Bar Online |publisher=Oregon State Bar |access-date=2013-12-01}} Their divorce was settled in 2002.
Berkman was married to Mary Ann Farrell Karlsson (also known as Mary Ann Karlsson-Berkman), a former New York Miss America contestant. Their divorce was pronounced in 2017.{{cite web|last=Liberto|first=Jennifer|url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/donors-dollars-passed-to-charity/735985|title=Donor's dollars passed to charity|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|date=July 23, 2008|access-date=2017-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040253/http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/donors-dollars-passed-to-charity/735985|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Mosk |first=Matthew |url=https://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-07-23/politics/36915254_1_political-donations-mccain-spokesman-brian-rogers-craig-berkman/2 |title=Big GOP Donor Faced Trouble Back Home |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 23, 2008|page=2|access-date=2013-12-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203060852/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-07-23/politics/36915254_1_political-donations-mccain-spokesman-brian-rogers-craig-berkman/2 |archive-date=2013-12-03 }}{{cite web|last= Melendez|first=Eleazar David|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/facebook-shares-fraud_n_2910228.html |title=Facebook Shares Fraud Helped Investment Manager Pay Off Previous Fines: SEC |work=The Huffington Post |date=March 19, 2013 |access-date=2013-12-01}}
Honors and awards
Berkman and his wife Karen Hinsdale-Berkman were awarded the University Advancement Award for the 2000–2001 year by the Portland State University Alumni Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.alumni/files/alumni_univ_advancement.pdf |title=University Advancement Award Recipients |publisher=Portland State University |access-date=2017-07-14}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkman, Craig}}
Category:Lewis & Clark Law School alumni
Category:Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni
Category:Oregon Republican Party chairs
Category:American venture capitalists
Category:Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon
Category:Businesspeople from Florida
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Politicians from Sioux City, Iowa