James D. Robinson III

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Person.png James D. Robinson III   SourcewatchRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(businessman)
James D. Robinson III.jpg
BornNovember 19, 1935
Atlanta, Georgia (state), USA
DiedMarch 18, 2024 (Age 88)
NationalityUS
Alma materWoodberry Forest School, Georgia Tech, Harvard University
Member ofBrookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations/Members 3
Attended Bilderberg/1988 as CEO of American Express.

James Dixon Robinson III was a prominent U.S. business executive for American Express during the 1980s financial speculation boom. Hailed in business circles and by the business press as a visionary leader, he transformed the superbly profitable but narrowly focused credit card company into a huge financial conglomerate.[1][2] He attended the 1988 Bilderberg meeting.

Early life and education

James Dixon Robinson III was born to a wealthy family in Atlanta on November 19, 1935.[3] He was educated at the Woodberry Forest School and attended Georgia Tech's School of Industrial Management where civil rights icon Blake Van Leer was president. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1957[4][5] where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity.

After college, Robinson joined the United States Navy.[6] He later received an MBA from Harvard University in 1961.[7]

American Express

James D. Robinson III was Chairman & CEO of the American Express Company for approximately 16 years. He held additional positions at the company prior to that. While at American Express, Robinson achieved the senior position at the company after his competitor for the position, Robert Morley, launched a thwarted hostile takeover of McGraw-Hill. Robinson went on to purchase Shearson Lehman, IDS, First Data Corporation, Trade Development Bank (Switzerland), and several others. He co-created Warner-Amex with Steve Ross.[8] He played a prominent role in the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout battle as chronicled in the book Barbarians at the Gate.[3]

Since 1986, American Express spent about $12 million on a luxury New York apartment which Robinson appropriated for personal use. He paid the company some, but the payments amounted to far less than $12 million.[1]

By the end of Robinson's tenure, he acknowledged that the business expansion had not gone well, saying that his "major miscalculation was 'a focus on overly rapid growth.'"[9]

Other positions

Robinson became a director of The Coca-Cola Company in 1975.[10] He was a general partner and co-founder of RRE Ventures, a private information technology venture investment firm, along with his son, James D. Robinson IV, a venture capitalist, and a classmate of his son from Harvard Business School, Stuart J. Ellman. Robinson was also a president of J.D. Robinson, Inc., a strategic consulting firm. He was previously a long-time Director and Chairman of Bristol-Myers Squibb, and of Violy, Byorum & Partners, which operated in South America.[2]

Robinson also sat on the Boards of Directors of PrimeRevenue and was honorary chairman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Robinson was a member of the Business Council and the Council on Foreign Relations, and an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution and World Travel & Tourism Council, of which he was a co-founder. In previous years, he was co-chairman of the Business Roundtable and chairman of the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. He was a member of the global senior advisory board at Jefferies Group.[11]

Personal life

In 1957, Robinson married Bettye Bradley; they had two children and divorced in 1983.[3] He married Linda Gosden Robinson, "a high-powered New York public relations executive" in July 1984.[1] They had two children together.[12]

On March 18, 2024, Robinson died from respiratory failure, a complication of pneumonia, at a hospital in Roslyn, New York. He was 88.[3]


 

Event Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Bilderberg/19883 June 19885 June 1988Austria
Interalpen-Hotel
Telfs-Buchen
The 36th meeting, 114 participants
Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.


References