Cincy financier Carl Linder Jr. dies at 92

CINCINNATI (AP) — Carl Lindner Jr., a publicity-shy Cincinnati financier known for a shrewdness that forged a business empire, was praised today for his willingness to help worthy causes and for never forgetting his roots.

Linder, whose wide range of businesses over the years included baseball, insurance and banks, died Monday at age 92.

He was surrounded by his wife, sons and other family members when he died of causes related to age, his Cincinnati-based company, American Financial Group Inc., said in a statement today. A person close to the family told The Associated Press that Lindner had been taken to a hospital gravely ill Monday morning.

Lindner was chairman of American Financial Group, a publicly traded financial holding company now reporting more than $30 billion in assets. In 2009, Forbes magazine estimated Lindner's personal wealth at $1.75 billion, placing him among the 400 richest Americans.

Lindner doled out millions of dollars to both political parties and to issue campaigns and hosted lavish fundraisers at his Ohio and Florida homes, including one for presidential candidate George H.W. Bush in 1988.