Bernard Cornfeld facts for kids

Bernard "Bernie" Cornfeld (born August 17, 1927 – died February 27, 1995) was a very successful businessman. He was known for helping people invest their money in special funds called mutual funds. He started a big company that helped many people around the world.

Early Life and First Steps

Bernard Cornfeld was born in Istanbul, Turkey. His father was an actor from Romania, and his mother was from a Russian family. When Bernard was four years old, his family moved to the United States. His father passed away two years later.

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, young Bernard worked hard after school. He helped in fruit stores and delivered things. He had a natural talent for selling, even though he had a stammer. Once, he and a friend used some insurance money to open a fun game stand at the Coney Island fair. People would guess age and weight there. Bernard finished school at Abraham Lincoln High School and then went to Brooklyn College.

He first worked helping people as a social worker. But soon, he found a new path selling mutual funds for an investment company. In 1955, he moved from New York City to Paris, France. With only a few hundred dollars, he started his own company. He called it Investors Overseas Services (IOS). He mostly sold mutual funds to American soldiers and families living in Europe.

Building a Big Company: IOS

In the 1960s, Bernie Cornfeld made his company, Investors Overseas Services (IOS), even bigger. Its main offices were in Geneva, Switzerland, but the company was officially set up in Panama. IOS also had offices in Ferney-Voltaire, France, right across the border from Geneva. During this time, a famous fashion designer named Diane von Furstenberg even worked for Cornfeld as a receptionist.

Bernie had a different idea about how mutual funds should work. He believed that the company should earn its fees from the profits they made for investors. This was different from just taking a percentage of the money people invested.

The IOS system faced big challenges in 1970. Bernie Cornfeld continued to live a comfortable life, even after the company had difficulties. He passed away in 1995.

Life in the Spotlight

Later in his life, Bernie Cornfeld lived in Beverly Hills, California. He became friends with many people in the film industry. For a while, he lived in a beautiful house called Grayhall mansion. This mansion was built in 1909 and was once rented by the famous actor Douglas Fairbanks.

Bernie had many well-known friends. These included Elizabeth Taylor, Michelle Phillips, Warren Beatty, Hugh Hefner, and Tony Curtis. The Grayhall mansion was even used as a movie set. It appeared as the home of a rock star in the 1976 movie A Star Is Born, which starred Barbra Streisand.

Later Years and Passing

In the 1990s, Bernie Cornfeld became very interested in health foods and vitamins. He stopped eating red meat. In his final years, he was in charge of a land development company in Arizona. He also owned a real estate business in Los Angeles.

Bernard Cornfeld had a stroke and later died on February 27, 1995. He passed away in London, England.