Wilbur Ross – Bio, Net Worth, Wife, Family Life And Life Achievements

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ProfessionPoliticians

Wilbur Ross a rich American venture capitalist who is presently the Secretary of Commerce in the United States. He is popularly known as “King of Bankruptcy” not just for fun – as it is known that before his appointment he had a track record of turning around companies from bankruptcy to profitable ventures. One might say it is as a result of his very good educational background but it sure goes way beyond that. Read on to learn about his family life, life achievements, and net worth.

Who Is Wilbur Ross?

Wilbur Louis Ross Jr. was born on the 28th of November in 1937, in the city of Weehawken in New Jersey, the United States. His parents, Wilbur Louis Ross Sr. and Agnes O’Neill were public servants as his father is said to have worked with the Judiciary as a lawyer and subsequently, a judge, while his mother was a school teacher.

He attended Xavier High School located in Manhattan and at that time, Xavier High School was a journey of two hours from his home. After Xavier High School, he moved on to further his education at Yale’s College – the same institution his father attended and eventually attained a bachelor’s degree before proceeding to get a Masters degree in Business Administration from Harvard University.

Career and Life Achievements

While at Yale’s College, Wilbur Ross felt he had passion in the area of writing so he looked forward to being a successful journalist but as he started a job with the Yale Literary Magazine, it didn’t take him long to figure out that writing wasn’t his specialty. This discovery made him tilt towards finance and with the quality of education and his excellent grades, it didn’t take him long to get a banking job with Rothschild in the late 1970s.

Over time, Wilbur Ross developed a strong skill in the area of developing systems that could restructure companies and not only bring them out of debt but make them flourish. It is known that sometime in the 1980s while Ross was still with Rothschild, he saved some of ’s casinos from closing down.

However, feeling caged as most of his financial ideas were being turned down at Rothschild, Ross decided to move out to launch his own company in April 2000, which he named WL Ross & Co. That same year, he also bought over some steel companies whose
accounts were red and he named them collectively as the International Steel Company. Wilbur Ross was able to get them back running and later on in 2005, sold it to Mittal Steel Company.

With his evident success in the financial field, Wilbur Ross was given an appointment with the United States to become the United States Secretary of Commerce in President .

Other Accolades

Wilbur Ross’ contributions to society have made him worthy of some accolades. He was awarded for helping Korea out of their financial turmoil with the Order of Industrial Merit. He was also awarded the American Irish Historical Society award for his contribution to the Banking sector of Ireland.

Furthermore, Wilbur Ross played a pivotal role in strengthening the Japanese economy and enhanced their ties with the US. This eventually got him the Order of the Rising Sun award from the Japanese Government.

Family Life: Wife

The financial juggernaut has been in 3 different marriages so far with his first coming in 1961 when he wedded Judith Nodine – the mother of his kids Jessica and Amanda – a marriage with lasted for 34 years. In 1995, the same year Ross divorced, he went into another marriage with Betsy McCaughey, a US politician, which subsequently ended five years later.

Currently, Ross is married to Hillary Geary whom he initially met in a party in 1995 and later on in another party in 2002. They got married on October 9, 2004, and from all, we have gathered, they seem quite happy together till date irrespective of their age difference as Geary is 15 years younger than Ross.

Net Worth

Wilbur Ross had claimed to have a net worth of close to $3 billion but when he was appointed as the United States’ Secretary of Commerce, his declared assets showed a $700 million. Furthermore, Ross together with his wife is known to be huge fans of great artworks and they have an art collection estimated at $150 million.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.