A racing accident in Colorado has claimed the life of James Crown, a US billionaire businessman who served in a number of executive positions, including board member of JPMorgan Chase.
The Colorado Sun stated that Crown, who turned 70 the day before he died, was killed in a single-vehicle collision at a race track in Colorado after hitting an impact barrier.
Crown served in a variety of positions, including chairman and CEO of the investment company owned by his family, Henry Crown and Company. He was a director on the General Dynamics board in addition to the JPMorgan board. Crown had been a board member of JPMorgan since the early 1990s.
“The Crown family is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Jim Crown,” a family representative said in a statement to the media. “The family requests that their privacy be respected at this difficult time.”
The senior was head of Henry Crown and Company, a family investment business, and was a member of the affluent Crown family of Chicago. The family’s wealth was assessed by Forbes to be $10.2 billion. The privately held company was first established as a family-owned building material company in Chicago in 1919.
According to its website, “through hard work and perseverance,” the company developed into one of the biggest privately held companies and land developers in the United States.
The family was ranked No. 34 on the list of the wealthiest families in America in 2020. According to Forbes, Crown was the son of businessman Henry Crown, who established the sand, stone, and gravel business Material Service in 1919.
The Aspen Skiing Company, which owns Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass, is also controlled by the family. The Chicago Bulls, New York Yankees, and other teams are also owned by the family.
Crown, the son of Renée and Lester Crown was born. His mother was Junius Myer Schine’s daughter and the sister of theatre and hotel tycoon G. David Schine.
Henry Crown, a Chicago businessman, was his grandfather. Susan Crown was his sister. Crown graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, with a bachelor of arts in 1976, and the Stanford Law School, where he obtained his juris doctor, in 1980. From 2003 to 2009, he presided over the board of trustees at the University of Chicago.
Crown began his career as a Salomon Brothers associate in New York City after graduating from law school. In 1983, he was promoted to vice president of the Capital Markets Service Group. He went back to Chicago in 1985 to work for his family’s financial company.
