Ronald Lauder

Ronald S. Lauder in January 2009

Ronald Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman, civic leader, philanthropist, and art collector. Forbes lists Lauder among the richest people of the world with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion in 2007.

Life and career

Lauder was born in New York City, the son of Estée Lauder and Joseph Lauder, founders of Estée Lauder Companies, and the younger brother of Leonard Lauder, chairman of the board of the Estee Lauder company. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and holds a Bachelors degree in International Business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He studied at the University of Paris, and received a Certificate in International Business from the University of Brussels. He is married to Jo Carole Lauder and has two children, Aerin and Jane. Lauder started to work for the Estee Lauder Company in 1964. In 1984 he became a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy at The Pentagon.

In 1986 Ronald Reagan named him as the US ambassador to Austria, a position he held until 1987. As ambassador, he fired diplomatic officer Felix Bloch, who later became known in connection with Robert Hanssen espionage case.

As a Republican, he made a bid to become the mayor of New York City in 1989, losing to Rudy Giuliani in the Republican primary. Michael Massing, writing of this nomination race, notes that politically Lauder “seemed out of step with most American Jews; … he ran to the right of Rudolph Giuliani. And, on Israeli issues, he was a vocal Likudnik, with long-standing ties to Netanyahu.

In 1998, Lauder was asked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin Track II negotiations with Syrian leader Hafez al-Asad; these negotiations continued after the election of Ehud Barak to the post. Lauder communicated a new-found willingness on Asad's part to make compromises with the Israelis in an overall land for peace deal, and his draft "Treaty of Peace Between Israel and Syria" formed an important part of (ultimately fruitless) the Israeli-Syrian negotiations that occurred in December 1999 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Lauder manages investments in real estate and media, including Central European Media Enterprises and Israeli TV.

His daughter Jane is married to Kevin Warsh, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.

Civic and philanthropic activities

Lauder led a movement to introduce term limits in the New York City Council, which were imposed on City Council members after citywide referendum in 1993. In 1996, voters turned down a Council proposal to extend term limits. Lauder spent $4 million on the two referendums. He has been involved in environmental conservation efforts in eastern Long Island and has served on the board of directors of the conservation organization Group for the East End since 2002.

Art

Lauder has been instrumental in some cases of recovering “lost” art from the Nazi period. However, he has been broadly criticized for failing to step forward and resolve a case involving the Museum of Modern Art, which in 1997 exhibited some paintings owned by Rudolph Leopold, a Viennese doctor. An investigative article in the New York Times on Dec. 24, 1997 — "A Singular Passion for Amassing Art, One Way or Another" — outlined a case involving Portrait of Wally by Egon Schiele, which was in the MoMA exhibition but was obtained by Leopold soon after the Nazi era. The Manhattan DA stepped in to help restore the piece to descendants of its owner, but ownership of the painting is still in contention, nearly 10 years later. Lauder did nothing on the case, despite being MoMA chairman at the time.

On November 16, 2001 Lauder opened the Neue Galerie in New York, an art museum dedicated to art from Germany and Austria from the early 20th century. It holds one of the best collections of works by Egon Schiele in the world. On June 18, 2006, he purchased from Maria Altmann and her family, the painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt for $135 million, the highest price ever paid for a painting at that time. The picture is the centerpiece of the museum's collection. It was his aspiration to share his passion for the modern artworks with a broader public that led Lauder in 2001 to open the Neue Galerie of German and Austrian Art just a few blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Lauder also has the world’s largest private collection of medieval and Renaissance armor.

Lauder is an honorary trustee of the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based non-profit with the mission of protecting endangered cultural heritage sites around the world.

Jewish and Zionist efforts

In 1987, Lauder established the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, a philanthropic organization that is dedicated to rebuild Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. The foundation also supports student exchange programs between New York and various capitals in Central and Eastern Europe.

Lauder is actively involved in numerous civic organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish National Fund, the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Brandeis University, and the Abraham Fund. With his brother he founded the Lauder Institute at Wharton School. Lauder has also served as a Finance Chairman of the New York State Republican Committee. In 2003 Lauder founded and became a president of Lauder Business School in Vienna, Austria.

Lauder was elected President of the World Jewish Congress on June 10, 2007, beating the South African businessman Mendel Kaplan and Einat Wilf of Israel by a clear margin. As WJC President, he has met with a number of heads of state and government, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Pope Benedict XVI, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, Czech President Václav Klaus, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and Swiss President Pascal Couchepin. Lauder has been strongly critical of business deals by European energy firms with Iran and called for stronger UN sanctions because of Tehran's threat against Israel and its nuclear program.

President George W. Bush appointed him to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.

Despite his commitment to the recovery of "lost" Holocaust art, Lauder has been accused by Holocaust survivors and their families of not disclosing art that belonged to Holocaust victims.

In December 2009, he protested against the Roman Curia's decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Pope Pius XII, asserting that an eventual beatification would be inopportune until the Holy See's historical archives from the 1939-1945 period were opened.

See also

• List of billionaires (2007)
• Central European Media Enterprises

Bibliography

• Lauder, RS. Fighting Violent Crime in America. Dodd Mead (April 1985). ISBN 0-396-08495-8

External links

• Ronald S.Lauder Foundation
• Biography by CEM
• Lauder Institute
• Interview with Ronald Lauder by Charlie Rose
• Election of WJC President, 10 June 2007