Allen Paulson

Allen Eugene Paulson (1922 to 2000) was an American businessman who built his fortune in aviation. Born in Clinton, Iowa, he was supporting himself at thirteen, later worked as a mechanic and flight engineer for TWA, and left in 1951 to form his own company, first selling parts from surplus engines and later trading in used aircraft. His California Airmotive Corporation became one of the largest dealers of second-hand airliners in the world and was renamed American Jet Industries in 1973. In 1978 he bought the Grumman American plants and offices from Grumman for 52 million dollars, forming Gulfstream American Corporation, and in 1982 he combined it with the aviation division of Rockwell International to form Gulfstream Aerospace, which he built into the largest maker of private jets. He sold it to Chrysler in 1985, bought it back in 1990 with Forstmann Little and retired in 1992. He won the Harmon Trophy in 1987 and later became a prominent thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder.