Peter Buck (restaurateur)

Peter Buck (born December 19, 1930) is an American physicist, restaurateur, and philanthropist. He co-founded the Subway fast-food restaurant chain.

Peter Buck
Born (1930-12-19) December 19, 1930[1]
South Portland, Maine, U.S.
Alma materBowdoin College (B.S., 1952)
Columbia University (M.S; PhD, Physics)
Bowdoin College (LHD, 2008, honorary)[2]
OccupationBusinessman
Co-founder of Subway
Net worth US$1.6 billion (2019)[3]

Early life and education

Buck was born in South Portland, Maine, in 1930.[4] He was graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in 1952. He then earned master's and doctoral degrees in physics at Columbia University.[2][5][6]

Career

Subway

While working as a nuclear physicist for several companies from 1957 to 1978, Buck loaned partner and family friend Fred DeLuca $1,000 in 1965 and advised him to open a sandwich shop to help him pay for college at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They named the restaurant after Buck, calling it "Pete's Super Submarines".[7] Together Buck and De Luca formed Doctor's Associates to oversee operations of the restaurants as the franchise expanded. Though neither the first nor the second restaurants were financial successes, they continued to expand their operations.[7] By 1973, they had 16 locations throughout Connecticut and, in 1974, they began franchising out the restaurants.[8] They also introduced Subway's current logo and changed the name of their operation from what was then "Pete's Subway" to "Subway Sandwiches".[9]

Wealth

Buck is ranked No. 261 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion.[3] He is the seventh-largest landowner in the United States by acreage, according to landreport.com.[10]

Philanthropy, honors, and awards

Among Buck's philanthropic works, he donated the 23.10 carat Carmen Lúcia Ruby to the gem collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History[11][12] It is thought to be one of the finest Burmese rubies known.[13] Curator Jeffrey Post called the gem “the most important addition to the collection in the 20 years that I’ve been here.”[14]

He also gave a grant to Bowdoin College in 2009 that completed its capital campaign.[15] Consequently, the college's new fitness center bears his name.[6][16] In 2008, Bowdoin College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.[2]

The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation (PCLB) was formed in 1999, by Dr. Peter Buck and his wife Carmen Lucia as a private family foundation to manage their family’s philanthropy.[17] The Internet Archive received support from PCLB.[18]

Personal life

Buck lives in Danbury, Connecticut.[19] He was married to Carmen Lúcia, who died in 2003.[19]

References
  1. "Peter Buck 12/19/1930". connvoters.com. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  2. "2008 Honorary Degree Recipients (Bowdoin, Office of Events and Summer Programs)". Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved September 8, 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "Forbes 400: No. 261 Peter Buck". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  4. Edwin Durgy. "Peter Buck". Forbes. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  5. "Peter Buck". Forbes. March 2012.
  6. "Dedication Ceremony for Peter Buck Center for Health and Fitness". Campus News. Bowdoin College. January 29, 2010.
  7. "Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame: Fred Deluca". Let's Talk Business Network.
  8. "Subway Franchise Information". Entrepreneur. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  9. "Subway Restaurants UK – History". Subway.co.uk. July 26, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  10. "100 Largest Landowners". Land Report. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  11. "Subway Co-Founder Gives Smithsonian A Gem of a Present". The Washington Post. October 13, 2004. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  12. "Billionaire Peter Buck Buys Rare Objects and Donates Them to Smithsonian Museums". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  13. https://geogallery.si.edu/10002734/carmen-lcia-ruby
  14. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/romance-and-the-stone-86088454/
  15. "Trustees meeting focuses on finances". The Bowdoin Orient. February 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  16. "Peter Buck Center for Health and Fitness to Open Sept. 22, Campus News". Bowdoin College. September 8, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  17. http://pclbfoundation.org/about/
  18. https://archive.org/about/
  19. Melanie Grayce West (June 20, 2014). "Subway Restaurant Founder Donates $30 Million to Support Danbury Hospital". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
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