Jefferies Financial Group

Investments

The company's major holdings are as follows:

Financial Services

• Jefferies Group (100%) - investment banking & capital markets
• Berkadia Commercial Mortgage (50/50 joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway) - commercial mortgage banking, investment sales and servicing
• HomeFed (65% ownership) - Builder of Master Planned Communities, Income Properties, Land Holdings
• FXCM (49.9%) - online foreign exchange trading
• Foursight Capital (100%) - vehicle finance

Others

• HRG Group (23%) - insurance and consumer products
• Vitesse Energy (96%) - oil and gas exploration and development
• Juneau Energy (98%) - oil and gas exploration and development
• Garcadia Holdings (75%, Joint venture with Ken Garff Automotive Group) - automobile dealerships
• Linkem (57%) - fixed wireless broadband services
• Golden Queen (35%) - a gold and silver mining project
• Idaho Timber (100%) - manufacturing
• National Beef Packing Company (79%) - food producer

History

• In 1970, Ian Cumming and Joseph S. Steinberg both graduated from Harvard Business School and went to work for Carl Marks & Company, an investment bank.
• In 1979, they gained control of Talcott National Corporation, sold the James Talcott Factors division, and, in 1980, they renamed the company Leucadia.
• In 1984, the company made a $61 million profit on its $77 million investment in Avco Corporation by forcing the sale of the company to Textron.
• In 1991, the company acquired insurer Colonial Penn from Florida Power & Light for $150 million.
• In 1997, the company sold the life insurance division of Colonial Penn to Conseco for $460 million and sold the auto insurance division of Colonial Penn to GE Capital for $950 million.
• In 1998, the company sold Charter National Life Insurance and Intramerica Life Insurance to Allstate.
• In 2002, the company received a 44% stake in WilTel Communications Group as a result of a bankruptcy reorganization.
• In May 2003, the company made an offer to acquire the remaining shares of WilTel Communications Group that it did not already own.
• In August 2003, after increasing its offer, the company acquired the remaining shares of WilTel Communications Group.
• In September 2003, the company acquired RehabWorks.
• In January 2004, the company financed Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund managed by Bill Ackman.
• In July 2004, the company sought, but failed, to buy a controlling stake in MCI Communications. In September 2004, the company sold its stake in MCI for a $20 million profit.
• In 2005, the company sold WilTel Communications Group to Level 3 Communications for a $180 million profit.
• In 2007, the company acquired ResortQuest International from Gaylord Hotels for $35 million.
• In 2009, the company entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway called Berkadia, which acquired the North American loan origination and servicing business of Capmark Financial Group.
• In 2010, the company sold ResortQuest International to Wyndham Worldwide for $56 million in cash.
• In 2011, the company acquired a 79% interest in National Beef Packing Company for $867.9 million.
• In 2012, the company proposed building a $3 billion syngas facility in south Chicago to convert coal and petroleum waste into natural gas; however, the plant never received legislative approval.
• In 2013, the company merged with Jefferies Group and Richard Handler became chief executive officer of the company.
• During the same year, KeyBank made a sub-servicing agreement with Berkadia Commercial Mortgage on the CMBS primary servicing portfolio it is acquiring from Bank of America. It also acquired Berkadia’s $10 billion special servicing portfolio.
• In 2015, the company made an investment in FXCM after FXCM suffered losses due to the appreciation of the Swiss Franc.
• In 2016, the company restructured its investment in FXCM.
• In May 2018, the company was renamed Jefferies Financial Group.

References

References

1. (2018-05-23). "Leucadia National Corporation Changes Name to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.".
2. [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/96223/000009622318000009/luk-2017123110k.htm Leucadia National Corporation 2017 Form 10-K Annual Report]
3. (28 January 2026). "Jefferies Financial Group Inc. 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
4. Prang, Allison. (April 9, 2018). "Leucadia to Focus More on Financial Business". Wall Street Journal.
5. (May 23, 2018). "BRIEF-Leucadia National Corp Changes Name To Jefferies Financial Group Inc". Reuters.
6. "Fortune 500 Companies 2019: Who Made the List".
7. https://berkadia.com/
8. https://homefedcorporation.com/
9. https://www.foursight.com/
10. CRUDELE, JOHN. (May 25, 1985). "LEUCADIA: SUCCESSFUL LONER". [[The New York Times]].
11. KOLODY, TRACY. (April 6, 1991). "Fpl Group Finds Buyer For Insurer Colonial Penn Brings In $150 Million". [[Sun-Sentinel]].
12. (May 1, 1997). "Conseco Planning to Acquire Colonial Penn". [[The New York Times]].
13. (July 1, 1997). "GE Capital to Buy Colonial Penn". [[Los Angeles Times]].
14. (December 22, 1998). "Allstate to buy 2 Leucadia companies". [[Deseret News]].
15. (October 16, 2002). "Williams Communications emerges from bankruptcy as WilTel". [[American City Business Journals]].
16. (May 15, 2003). "Leucadia National Corporation Proposes to Acquire WilTel Communications Group, Inc. Common Stock". [[Business Wire]].
17. (August 13, 2003). "Hardware: Leucadia To Acquire Remainder Of Wiltel". [[The New York Times]].
18. George, John. (September 29, 2003). "Leucadia National buys RehabWorks". [[American City Business Journals]].
19. Swarts, Will. (January 12, 2004). "Gotham Partners' Ackman Back in Hedge Fund Game". [[TheStreet.com]].
20. BELSON, KEN. (July 13, 2004). "Leucadia Seeks to Buy Controlling Stake in MCI". [[The New York Times]].
21. Stern, Christopher. (September 28, 2004). "Declared Suitor Sells Its Stake In MCI". [[The Washington Post]].
22. (December 23, 2005). "Leucadia National Corporation Completes Sale of WilTel Communications Group, LLC to Level 3 Communications, Inc". [[Business Wire]].
23. (June 5, 2007). "Gaylord Sells Mainland ResortQuest Business". Hotel Business Review.
24. (December 11, 2009). "Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC Completes Acquisition of Capmark's North American Loan Origination and Servicing Business". [[Business Wire]].
25. (September 22, 2010). "Wyndham to buy ResortQuest for $56 million". [[NJ.com]].
26. (December 5, 2011). "Leucadia National Corporation Announces Agreement to Acquire Control of National Beef and Declares $0.25 Per Share Cash Dividend". [[Business Wire]].
27. Hawleyt, Brenna. (December 6, 2011). "National Beef owners reach $867.9M deal to sell majority stake to Leucadia". [[American City Business Journals]].
28. Murtaugh, Dan. (January 12, 2012). "Illinois ruling hurts Leucadia synthetic gas proposal". [[The Birmingham News]].
29. (February 28, 2013). "Leucadia National Corporation and Jefferies Group, Inc. Merger to Be Effective March 1, 2013". [[Business Wire]].
30. (2013-05-10). "BofA sells $110 billion CMBS servicing rights portfolio to KeyBank". Reuters.
31. (January 16, 2015). "FX broker FXCM gets rescue from Jefferies parent Leucadia". [[Reuters]].
32. (September 1, 2016). "Leucadia and FXCM Complete Long-Term Partnership Agreement". [[GlobeNewswire]].