Wilbur Ross, “Risks and Returns: Creating Success in Business and Life”

Tuesday, January 7, 2025, 3:00PM
No charge for Four Arts members
Reservations required

Wilbur Ross 
The John R. Donnell Memorial Lecture

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. served as Secretary of Commerce in the Trump administration following 55 years of experience in investment banking and private equity. In this capacity, he advised President Donald Trump on commercial and economic affairs, and helped American entrepreneurs and businesses create jobs and economic opportunity.

A native of North Bergen, New Jersey, Ross spent a significant portion of his business career at Rothschild, Inc. Ross negotiated on behalf of creditors in some of the highest-profile bankruptcy proceedings in history, including those involving Pan Am, TWA, Texaco, and Drexel Burnham Lambert. After founding his own private equity firm in 2000, Ross purchased and restored many companies to profitability, including those in the steel, coal, textile, and banking industries. Over the course of his career, Ross restructured more than $400 billion in assets, earning him a distinguished reputation on Wall Street. In 2011, Bloomberg Markets named him one of the 50 most influential people in global finance. He is the author of the USA Today best-seller Risks and Returns: Creating Success in Business and Life.

Secretary Ross’s philanthropic work has included significant support for the Japan Society, the Brookings Institution, the Blenheim Foundation, and numerous entities devoted to the fine arts, including the René Magritte Museum in Brussels. He was also an advisory board member of Yale University School of Management.

The John R. Donnell Memorial Lecture was established in 2001 by long-time Four Arts trustee Maureen Donnell, in memory of her late husband John Donnell. Mr. Donnell was a great supporter of the arts and a member of The Four Arts Board of Trustees. He was a graduate and trustee of Case Western Reserve University and a graduate of Harvard Business School. He was president of international relations and a senior vice president at the Marathon Oil Company. Mr. Donnell served 25 years as president and chairman of the First National Bank of Findlay, Ohio, and was a board member of the Boy Scouts of America and the World Boy Scout Foundation.