Matthew Mellon

Matthew Taylor Mellon II (January 28, 1964 – April 16, 2018) was an American businessman who was a chairman of the New York Republican State Committee's finance committee.

Early life and education

Born in New York City to Karl Negley Mellon and Anne Stokes Bright, Mellon was raised in Manhattan, Palm Beach, Florida and Northeast Harbor, Maine. He attended The Phelps School, a boys' boarding school in Malvern, Pennsylvania, followed by college at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied management. His father abandoned the family when he was five years old, before dying by suicide in 1983.

Mellon was a direct descendant of Judge Thomas Mellon, founder of the Mellon Bank, now part of Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, on his paternal side. On his maternal side he was a direct descendant of Anthony Joseph Drexel, a banker whose investment firm was a precursor to Drexel Burnham Lambert. He maintained associations with Drexel University and Carnegie Mellon University, both of which were founded by family members. He was also involved with the National Gallery of Art, the core of whose collection was donated to the nation by his great-uncle, Andrew Mellon.

Career

Mellon was named Finance Chairman by State Chairman Ed Cox in May 2011. In February 2018, Forbes magazine reported that Mellon's $2 million investment in the cryptocurrency XRP, turned into a $1 billion fortune.

Personal life and death

Mellon had bipolar disorder, as did his father. Prior to their 2016 divorce, Mellon lived in New York City with his wife Nicole Hanley Mellon and their two children. He also had a daughter whom he raised jointly with his former wife, Tamara Mellon, the co-founder of shoe company Jimmy Choo. Prior to his marriage to Nicole, he was engaged to entrepreneur Noelle Reno, with whom he established a cashmere knitwear line.

In 2016, Mellon attended a treatment centre in Malibu, California, to deal with a reported addiction to the prescription opioid OxyContin, said to be costing him $100,000 a month. He was quoted as saying "OxyContin is like legal heroin. And it needs to be addressed."

At the end of 2017 Mellon moved from New York to Los Angeles, renting a house in the Hollywood Hills for $150,000 a month. There, he led an active social life and began to spend much time with Kick Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In late March, Mellon dined with President Donald Trump.

Mellon died in April 2018 in Cancun, Mexico, where he was planning to check into the Clear Sky Recovery clinic, which specializes in ibogaine therapy, a medication with psychedelic properties. However, he was reported to have died in a hotel room in Cancun before arrival at the clinic, suffering a fatal heart attack after taking ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink.