History of the 100 Club
The 100 Club roster is filled with leaders and successful men and women dedicated to helping each other for more than 75 years. As the 100 Club enters its eighth decade the membership continues to grow and expand to include 21st-century professions, alongside the timeless core professions, such as law, finance, insurance and real estate that made the club what it is today. As founding member Joseph Schlang once said, “May it continue beyond our individual days and our children…. Here’s to a long and happy life for the 100 Club and all its members!”
Our Mission
The mission of the 100 Club is to provide a collegial environment of like-minded business leaders for the interchange of information and counsel, for mutual aid and assistance in business and professional problems, for discussion of items of general and particular interest, and so that each member may enjoy and offer privileged business relationships so that all can benefit from the resulting social and professional bonds.
New York City
The 100 Club was founded in 1938 by a group of five New York City businessmen, young, hungry entrepreneurs who felt that banding together for a common purpose would give them a competitive edge in the churning rough-and-tumble of Depression-era New York.
They met at dinner, one friend invited another. The five men hatched a plan to invite one hundred of the most ambitious businessmen of the city for the purpose of offering mutual aid and business networking — a unique concept at the time. They created a forum for the interchange of ideas, information, assistance and counsel. Whenever possible, each member would enjoy professional preference from the other members, with introductions to their personal and professional networks.
By 1945 there were sixty members, and as the postwar boom made New York City the capital of the financial, business, and media worlds, so too did the 100 Club ascend in prominence and scope, offering its members — the men, and later, women who effected the building of modern New York — great opportunities, relationships and success.
The illustrious roster of past 100 Club members includes Al Tisch (real estate), Stanley Kaplan (education & philanthropy), Irving Schulman (retail), Morty Reitman (finance), Joseph Meltzer (ophthalmology), and Robert Russell (television).
Why Join
Joining the 100 Club offers you the opportunity to be introduced to and socialize with New York’s most accomplished business owners and leaders. You will enjoy exclusivity in your field, a broadening of your network, and access to experts in many fields.
How to Join
Application to the 100 Club is by invitation from a sponsoring member. If your profession is not already represented in the group and you are a business owner or a leader in your industry, please download this form and return it to the membership chairperson indicated on the form. The constitution of the 100 Club provides that applicants should be “in business for themselves, full partners in a business, an executive officer in a corporation, persons of acceptable executive status (not necessarily owners or officers) in outstanding firms, or persons in the professions.”