Hillman handing over the helm of diverse local company

Pittsburgh billionaire Henry Hillman is stepping down July 1 as chairman of the vast and diversified company bearing his name, The Hillman Co. said Tuesday.

He will be succeeded by longtime president and chief executive Lawrence Wagner, who will continue as CEO. Wagner, 64, has been company president since 1997 and joined the company in 1971.

Hillman, 85, will remain at the company, however, serving as chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors.

Hillman and Wagner declined to comment.

Hillman is considered Pittsburgh's wealthiest person. He is worth about $2.8 billion, according to a Forbes estimate in February, placing the industrialist at No. 176 on the magazine's roster of the nation's richest people.

The Hillman Co. was founded by Hillman's father in 1946 and traditionally has held wide interests in heavy industry, such as coke, chemicals and transportation. In more recent years, the privately held company expanded into real estate and technology holdings.

"Henry Hillman can project what the future is going to be by asking the right questions," said spokesman J.R. Philp. "His belief in what to invest in is based on where we'll be in the next 10 or 15 years."

Hillman investments in the early 1980s were instrumental in launching Silicon Valley, California's high-tech region. Other portfolio holdings range from acute-care facilities to restaurants to fluid power, he said.

In addition, The Hillman Co. yesterday named vice president and board director Joseph Manzinger, 44, to be president and chief operating officer. He will remain on the board.

Chief Financial Officer Eric Johnson, 45, was elected board vice chairman, and will remain treasurer and CFO.

"I don't view this as changing anything we do," said Philp of the executive moves.

The company employs about 2,500 people around the United States, including 80 at its headquarters Downtown. The various business managers operate "pretty much on their own, as long as they deliver the results we expect," Philp said.

Hillman's history of community contributions are evident from such edifices as The Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh and the $150 million Hillman Cancer Center, which opened in December 2002 at UPMC Shadyside hospital.