Businessman, Philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears and Roebuck Company, an American retailer, which sold clothes, appliances and housewares. Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck had incorporated in 1893 a mail-order company, Sears and Roebuck Company. At Roebuck's request, Sears purchased Roebuck's half of the company in 1895, and at that point, he joined the company. Born one of six children of German Jewish immigrants, he learned the clothing business, starting at the age of 16, from an uncle in New York City. Eventually, Rosenwald, his brother and a few cousins had a clothing business in Chicago, supplying clothes for Sears and Roebuck Company. In August of 1895, Sears sold Roebuck's half of the company to Rosenwald and his brother-in-law, Aaron Nusbaum, for $75,000 and the company was re-incorporated. Sears and Rosenwald purchased Nusbaum's share of the company for $1.3 million in 1903. Under Rosenwald's leadership as vice president and treasurer, the company's worth climbed to $50 million by 1907. After Sears resigned the presidency in 1908 due to declining health, Rosenwald was named president. When continuing the mail-order business with catalogues, the first Sears retail store opened in 1925 and eventually Sears and Roebuck Company became the largest chain of retail stores in the United States. During the Stock Crash of 1929, the company loss financially. To keep the company from going bankrupt, Rosenwald pledged $21 million of his personal wealth. Sears and Roebuck Company held an interest in twenty-five factories that produced its merchandise, and the factories employed hundreds of workers. Within a couple of years, his company had regained financial stability. His wife died in 1929 and he remarried in 1930 to his son's mother-in-law. After stepping down from the company's presidency in 1924, he remained on the executive board, thus having time for philanthropy. Among his many philanthropy projects was providing funds to build six small schools in rural Alabama for African American students, which were constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914. Through the Rosenwald Fund, sources claim he helped support the building of the more than 5,300 schools by 1934 in 15 southern states, with many bearing his name. He supported African American colleges and gave scholarships to students, who would become outstanding in their career fields. He donated to the University of Chicago. After World War I, he donated to the displaced Jewish community in Europe and fed German children. He frequently offered large philanthropic gifts on the condition that they be matched by other donations. He was on the board of the Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans. He founded Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. He founded dental infirmaries in the public schools. After his second marriage, he was diagnosed with a serious heart disease having to limit activity during his final years. Although he was a wealthy man, he was known for watching every penny in his budget. He was known for the values of being thrifty, honest dealing, and hard work. The Rosenwald Fund closed in 1948, sixteen years after Rosenwald's death, having supported an extraordinary range of programs.