Campbell trustee
Leppert leaving
He'll take a position with
By Rick Daysog
a New York commercial
development company
Star-BulletinCampbell Estate trustee Tom Leppert is leaving the $2 billion trust to become a top executive of a New York-based development company, sources said.
The high-profile local business executive will leave his $800,000-a-year post to join The Turner Group, a 3,000-employee commercial development company.
Leppert, who has served on Turner's board since May 1998, today confirmed that he was leaving the the estate, Hawaii's 8th largest private landowner, but declined say where he was going.
"Hawaii is our home and this decision was very difficult," Leppert said.
Turner Group, which developed the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium in New York and the Long Beach Aquarium, only said that it planned to make an announcement shortly.
Leppert has been a trustee of the Campbell Estate since January 1998 when he replaced former Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. chief executive C. Dudley Pratt.
Prior to that, he served as vice chairman of Pacific Century Corp., parent of Bank of Hawaii, and has served chief executive officer of local home builder Castle & Cooke Hawaii.
In 1997, Leppert played a key role in Gov. Ben Cayetano's often criticized Economic Revitalization Task Force.
Founded in 1902, Turner is a general construction company that has developed office buildings and sports and entertainment complexes.
Last year, the publicly traded Turner completed $4.1 billion of construction.
The Campbell Estate is a private for-profit trust established in 1900 to benefit the heirs of Scottish seaman James Campbell.
It owns 70,800 acres in Hawaii and has extensive interests on the mainland.
Board Chairman David Heenan praised Leppert for his service to the estate.
"In a very brief period of time, Tom Leppert contributed significantly to the strategic direction and growth of the estate," he said.
"His keen intellect and tireless worth ethic quickly won the praise of all of us who have been privileged to work with him."
