Background
Wilson, Robert Warne was born on November 3, 1926 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Son of Clarence Warne Wilson and Margaret Ballantyne.
chairman philanthropist art collector
Wilson, Robert Warne was born on November 3, 1926 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Son of Clarence Warne Wilson and Margaret Ballantyne.
Bachelor in Economics magna cum laude, Amherst College, Massachusetts, 1946. Master of Arts in Economics, University Michigan, 1947. Postgraduate, Michigan Law School, 1949.
Born in Detroit, Wilson gained his undergraduate degree at Amherst College and his masters from the University of Michigan. He founded his own hedge fund Wilson & Associates in 1969 and retired in 1986. By 2000 he was worth an estimated $800 million.
According to BusinessWeek he gave away over four hundred million dollars, and according to others more than $600 million, to environmental and preservation organizations including the Nature Conservancy and the World Monuments Fund.
"The idea of "But for my money, it would be gone forever" appeals," he once remarked. After his death, an email correspondence with Bill Gates revealed that Wilson opposed The Giving Pledge, calling it "practically worthless".
An avid art collector at the time, Wilson had been on the board of trustees of the Whitney Museum of American Art for over thirty years. And Neil thinks John owes him some money.
And I suspect both of those statements are true, and why the matter can’t be settled is beyond medical "
In his will Wilson left his art collection to the Whitney with the exception of James Rosenquist"s 1997 painting, "The Meteor Hits the Swimmer"s Pillow".
He was chairman of the New York City Opera board from 1981 to 1993. Wilson died on December 23, 2013 at the age of 87, after leaping from the 16th floor of his apartment at The San Remo on Central Park West in the New York City borough of Manhattan. He had suffered a stroke in the month of June and another in the month prior to his suicide.
He had no children.
Board directors Brooklyn Museum, 1974-1988, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1974-1988, New York City Opera, 1977-1998, chairman 1981-1993. Advisory board Metropolitan Opera, 1979-1981. Trustee Environtl. Defense, since 1986, Lyric Opera of Chicago National Board, 1995-1901, Manhattan Institute, 1986-1902, Whitney Museum of America Art, 1978— vice president, World Monuments Fund, 1990— vice chairman, Deafness Research Foundation, 1998-1901.
Member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Married Marillyn Buelow, April 1957 (divorced 1977).