Voting Station

Stanley H. Kaplan

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (May 24, 1919-August 23, 2009)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    Founded the test preparation company Kaplan Inc. (1938)
    Initially focused on the New York State Regents Examinations
    Added preparation for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT, 1946)
    Sold company to the Washington Post Co. for $45 million (1984)
    At the time of his death, Kaplan Inc. made $2.3 billion, accounting for more than half of Washington Post revenues

Why he might be annoying:

    Normally a straight-A student, when he got a B+ on his fourth-grade report card, he was so shocked that he wandered aimlessly about his Flatbush neighborhood.
    He liked to say that his middle initial stood for 'Higher scores.' (Actually, it was 'Henry.')
    A Federal Trade Commission investigation concluded that his boasts that his company could improve SAT scores by 100 points were greatly exaggerated (1979).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was admitted to City College of New York at age 16 and won the school's award for excellence in natural science.
    He had hoped to become a doctor, but was rejected by all five medical schools in New York City because they had already filled their quotas for Jewish students.
    The FTC investigation did find that his company's test prep classes could improve SAT scores by an average of 25 points for both the math and verbal sections.
    He was married to Rita Gwirtzman for over fifty years.
    Washington Post editor Donald Graham noted, 'He invented an industry, and not a small one.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying