Wilbur Ross

Wilbur Louis Ross, Jr. (born November 28, 1937) is an American investor, and former banker, known for restructuring failed companies in industries such as steel, coal, telecommunications, foreign investment and textiles. He specializes in leveraged buyouts and distressed businesses. As of August 2014, Forbes magazine lists Ross as one of the world's billionaires with a net worth of $2.9 billion.
Ross is known as the "King of Bankruptcy” for his experience in buying bankrupt companies, primarily in the manufacturing and steel industries, and later selling them for a fortune after operations improve.
On November 24, 2016, it was reported by the Associated Press that Ross would be nominated for United States Secretary of Commerce by the incoming Trump Administration. The Trump transition team confirmed the President-elect's intent to nominate him on November 30, 2016.

Ross was born on November 28, 1937 in Weehawken, New Jersey, and grew up in an affluent family in suburban New Jersey. His father, Wilbur Louis Ross, Sr., was a lawyer who later became a judge, and his mother, Agnes (O'Neill), was a school teacher.

Ross drove two hours a day from New Jersey to attend the elite Catholic college preparatory Xavier High School in Manhattan. He ran track and was captain of the rifle team. He earned a BA degree from Yale College, which was also his father's alma mater. At Yale, Ross edited one of the literary magazines and worked at the radio station. Initially, he wanted to be a writer, but after his experience in a fiction class requiring 500 words daily, he concluded that he had "run out of material." His faculty adviser at Yale helped him get his first summer job on Wall Street. He earned his MBA degree at Harvard Business School.

Rothschild Investments

In the late 1970s, Ross began 24 years at the New York City office of N M Rothschild & Sons, where he ran the bankruptcy-restructuring advisory practice.

Representation of investors in casinos owned by Donald Trump

In the 1980s, Donald Trump found himself in financial trouble with regards to his casinos in Atlantic City. His three casinos in Atlantic City were under foreclosure threat from lenders. Ross, then senior managing director of Rothschild Inc., represented investors in the casino. Along with Carl Icahn, Ross convinced bondholders to strike a deal with Trump that allowed Trump to keep control of the casinos.

Establishment of WL Ross & Co.

In the late 1990s, Ross started a $200 million fund at Rothschild to invest in distressed assets. As the U.S. bubble began to burst, he decided he wanted to invest more and advise less. In 2000, the 62-year-old banker raised $450 million to buyout the fund from Rothschild and make further investments in distressed assets. The new firm was named WL Ross & Co. Staff included 4 top managers who, along with Ross, make up the firm's investment committee: David H. Storper, who runs trading; David L. Wax, a longtime workout specialist; Stephen J. Toy, an Asia expert; and Pamela K. Wilson, a J.P. Morgan & Co. veteran. WL Ross & Co. was acquired by Amvescap (now Invesco) in 2006.

Investments

International Steel Group (ISG)

In 2002, Ross founded International Steel Group after purchasing the assets of several bankrupt steel companies. Ross had support of the local Steelworkers Union, negotiating a deal with them to "save" Pennsylvania's steel industry. Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers union stated about Ross that "he was open and accessible and candid and honest and he put a lot of money back into the mills, so literally tens of thousands of jobs were saved."Ross sold International Steel Group to Mittal Steel Company for $4.5 billion, half in cash and half in stock, in April 2005.

International Textile Group (ITG)

Ross combined Burlington Industries and Cone Mills in 2004 to form International Textile Group. ITG operates five businesses, all of which operate under separate brand names: Cone Denim, Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Home Furnishings, Carlisle Finishing and Nano-Tex. In 2005, Ross purchased 77.3% of Safety Components International for $51.2 million. In 2006, Ross merged the firm into his International Textile Group. International Textile Group was sold to private equity firm Platinum Equity in 2016.

International Automotive Components Group (IAC)

International Automotive Components Group was formed in 2006 by Ross and investment funds managed by Franklin Mutual Advisers. In 2006, International Automotive Components Group purchased the European operations of Lear Corporation. In 2005-2007, IAC purchased several divisions of Collins & Aikman. In September 2005, investors led by Ross made a $100 million investment in Oxford Automotive in exchange for approximately 25% of the company. In 2006, Oxford merged with Wagon Automotive.

International Coal Group (ICG)

Ross founded the International Coal Group, which was formed after several coal companies went bankrupt. The United Mine Workers of America protested the bankruptcy reorganization as it led to changes in health care and pensions for the existing employees. Arch Coal purchased International Coal Group for $3.4 billion in 2011.

In February 2014, Ross paid $81 million to settle a lawsuit brought by shareholders that Ross breached his fiduciary duty when engineering the merger of two companies that he majority-owned: Safety Components International Inc. and International Textile Group Inc.

In August 2016, Ross agreed to reimburse investors $11.8 million and pay a fine of $2.3 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the overcharging of fees by WL Ross & Co.

Sago Mine disaster

The Sago Mine disaster was a 2006 explosion in a coal mine indirectly owned by International Coal Group that led to the deaths of 12 miners. Following the disaster, the New York Post's Roddy Boyd reported that Ross "had been intimately involved with the company that owned the West Virginia mine where 12 miners perished — and he knew all about its safety problems, former executives charged." The article also reported that the mine had 12 roof collapses in 2005, and that the U.S. Department of Labor data showed 208 citations for safety violations in that same period, including 21 times for build-up of toxic gasses. Despite these figures, Ross refused to shut down the mine.

Ross is a Democrat by upbringing.

Ross served under U.S. President Bill Clinton on the board of the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund, and later, under New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the Mayor's privatization advisor.

In January 1998 he put $2.25 million in seed money into the campaign of his then-wife, Republican Betsy McCaughey Ross.

Although he was an early supporter of Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign, Ross in earlier years was a registered Democrat, served as an officer of the New York State Democratic Party, and held fundraisers for Democratic candidates at his apartment in New York City. Since at least 2011, Ross began donating to Republican candidates and organizations, and became a registered Republican in November 2016.

Political opinion

Ross has stated "I am not anti-trade. I am pro-trade, but I'm pro-sensible trade. [Being anti-trade] is a disadvantage of the American worker and the American manufacturing community."

Ross has stated that the government "should provide access to our markets to those countries who play fair, play by the rules and give everybody a fair chance to compete. Those who do not should not get away with it -they should be punished and severely."

Ross has stated that he was initially in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership but after examining the agreement, he claimed it was "not consistent with what was advertised."

Ross is a hall of fame member and past director of the Turnaround Management Association.

As of January 2012, Ross was the leader (or “Grand Swipe”) of the secret Wall Street fraternity, Kappa Beta Phi.

He serves on the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution

He is also on the board of advisors of Yale School of Management. He donated $10 million for the construction of Evans Hall at the Yale School of Management.

Ross married Judith Nodine in 1961; they had two daughters, and divorced in 1995. His second wife was former New York Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey; they married in 1995, and divorced in 2000.

On October 9, 2004, Ross married his third wife, Hilary Geary, a society writer for Quest magazine.

Art collection

Ross owns an art collection conservatively valued at $150 million that includes pieces ranging from Western surrealists to contemporary Eastern sculptures. Ross owns 25 works by René Magritte, valued at $100 million, including some of the artist's most valuable paintings such as The Pilgrim.