Ralph S. Saul, 94, business executive
Ralph S. Saul, 94, formerly of Haverford, a high-profile business executive, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Oct. 4, at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne.
Ralph S. Saul, 94, formerly of Haverford, a high-profile business executive, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Oct. 4, at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne.
Mr. Saul was best known as the chief executive officer of the Insurance Company of North America from 1975 to 1982, when it merged with Connecticut General to form Cigna Corp.
After the merger, which Mr. Saul oversaw, he became co-CEO of the new firm, and was chairman of the board of directors until 1984. He stayed on the board until 1989.
A Brooklyn native, Mr. Saul earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Chicago in 1947, and a law degree from Yale University in 1951.
While practicing law in the 1950s, Mr. Saul became fascinated by the securities business. Because of that, he joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a profile in Schiff's Insurance Observer.
By the early 1960s, he was the head of its Division of Trading and Markets, which was responsible for market regulation and enforcement, Schiff's wrote. He went on to become president of the American Stock Exchange from 1967 to 1971.
During and after his tenure at Cigna, Mr. Saul, who had a keen sense of human and organizational dynamics, became a go-to person for financial entities in trouble.
For instance, he served as a member of the oversight committee when Drexel Burnham Lambert, the investment banking firm, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market.
Known for being emphatic, Mr. Saul said that auditors should be independent and company audits frequent, long before that view became generally accepted. "We can be assured that Ralph will give us his incisive, independent, and outspoken point of view," Schiff's wrote in 2003.
Mr. Saul served on the board of directors for the Brookings Institute, the regulatory advisory committee of the New York Stock Exchange, and the advisory board to the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
Mr. Saul also served on the boards of Sun Co. Inc., Fidelity Group of Funds, New York Times, AMF Corp, New York Stock Exchange, PaineWebber and Company, Pennwalt Corp., Saint-Gobain Corp., and the Gesu School in Philadelphia.
He was known as a dignified, gracious and loving man who doted on his family. He was married to Bette J. Saul, with whom he traveled throughout the world. She died in 2013.
He is survived by his son, Bob; daughter Jane McKay; and four grandchildren.
Service will be private.
Donations may be made to the Gesu School, 1700 W. Thompson St., Philadelphia 19121.
610-313-8102