Fred Malek, a Washington-area business executive who led Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines, raised millions for the Republican Party and advised four presidents during a career that was shadowed by his role in President Richard Nixon's crusade against a "Jewish cabal" in the government, died Sunday. He was 82.
His death was announced by the American Action Network, a conservative advocacy group he formed with former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn. The organization did not provide details, but Malek's friend Pete Snyder, an entrepreneur and Virginia Republican, confirmed that he died Sunday, citing the family.
The son of a beer-delivery-truck driver, Malek was a Green Beret, a Harvard University business school graduate and a millionaire before he turned 30.