Ronald Perelman

From Grokipedia

Ronald Owen Perelman (born January 1, 1943) is an American billionaire investor and businessman serving as chairman and chief executive officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, a holding company he wholly owns that invests in and operates businesses across diverse sectors including cosmetics, biotechnology, and military equipment. A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in 1964 and an MBA in 1966, Perelman built his fortune through aggressive leveraged buyouts starting in the late 1970s, acquiring undervalued companies and restructuring them for profitability.

His most notable acquisition was Revlon in 1985 for $1.74 billion, which he held for decades until losing control amid its 2023 bankruptcy proceedings, reflecting broader challenges in his portfolio exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and leading to asset sales including aircraft, yachts, and art worth billions. Perelman has also engaged in philanthropy, donating over $400 million to causes such as medical research and education, though he faced criticism for failing to fulfill a $65 million pledge to Princeton University. As of recent estimates, his net worth stands around $1.9 billion, down from peaks exceeding $10 billion due to these corporate setbacks.

In brief

Ronald Perelman collected companies the way some people collect stamps, except the stamps could fire you. Revlon was the jewel the public knew; the rest of the portfolio ran from cigars to gaming to cars.

Fortunes of that kind go up and down with the debt that built them. He remains a philanthropist and a New York figure — a buyer who treated the 1980s as a permanent method.