Perry Richardson Bass

Perry Richardson Bass (1914–2006) was an American heir, investor, philanthropist and sailor.

Early life

Perry Richardson Bass was born on November 11, 1914 in Wichita Falls, Texas. He was educated at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1937.

Career

He worked for his uncle, Sid W. Richardson, a rancher and oil wildcatter, in the 1940s and 1950s. Upon his uncle's death, he inherited his oil and ranching interests, worth several million dollars.

Philanthropy

As a result of good investments, Bass was worth US$1 billion by 2005 and was the 746th wealthiest American citizen. He also became a philanthropist. The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas is the result of a donation he made. Moreover, in 1991, he donated US$1 million to fifty different institutions. The Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Center in Palacios, Texas is also named in his honor.

With his wife, he has donated art to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. The collection includes Street in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Enclosed Field with Plowman by Vincent Van Gogh as well as Fruit Dish, Bottle, and Guitar by Pablo Picasso. It also includes paintings by Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall and Mark Rothko as well as sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol and Simon Segal.

Sailor

Perry built his own wooden Snipe and in 1935, while studying at Yale, he won the Snipe class world sailing championship. He was navigator for Ted Turner's "American Eagle" when it won the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1972.

Personal life

He married Nancy Lee Bass in 1941. They had four sons:

• Sid Bass.
• Lee Bass.
• Ed Bass.
• Robert Bass.

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Death

He died on June 1, 2006 in Fort Worth, Texas.