Perry Richardson Bass | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 11, 1914 |
| Died | June 1, 2006 (aged 91) |
| Education | The Hill School Yale University |
| Occupation(s) | Investor, philanthropist |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Sid Bass Lee Bass Ed Bass Robert Bass |
| Relatives | Sid W. Richardson (uncle) Hyatt Bass (granddaughter) |
Perry Richardson Bass (November 11, 1914 – June 1, 2006) was an American heir, investor, philanthropist and sailor.
Early life
Perry Richardson Bass was born on November 11, 1914, in Wichita Falls, Texas.[1][2][3] He was educated at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.[1] He graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1937.[1][2]
Career
He worked for his uncle, Sid W. Richardson, a rancher and oil wildcatter, in the 1940s and 1950s.[4] Upon his uncle's death, he inherited his oil and ranching interests, worth several million dollars.[1]
Philanthropy
As a result of good investments, Bass was worth US$1 billion by 2005 and was the 746th-wealthiest American citizen.[4] He became a philanthropist. He funded the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas.[3] In 1991, he donated US$1 million to 50 institutions.[2] The Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Center in Palacios, Texas is named in his honor.[5]
With his wife, he has donated art to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.[3] The collection includes Street in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Enclosed Field with Plowman by Vincent van Gogh as well as Fruit Dish, Bottle, and Guitar by Pablo Picasso.[3] It also includes paintings by Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall and Mark Rothko as well as sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol and Simon Segal.[3]
He was a leading syndicate member of the unsuccessful 1974 America’s Cup defender candidate, Mariner, helmed by Ted Turner.[6]
The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Center for Molecular and Structural Biology is named after Bass and his wife, and was completed in 1993.[7]
Sailor
Perry built his own wooden Snipe sailboat; in 1935, while studying at Yale, he won the Snipe class world sailing championship.[8][9] A one-time Vice Commodore of the Houston Yacht Club and a proud longtime member of the Del Rey Yacht Club,[10] he was honorary navigator for Ted Turner's "American Eagle" when it won the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1972.[11]
Personal life
He married Nancy Lee Muse in 1941.[3][4] They had four sons, all notable businessmen and philanthropists, and all billionaires: Sid Bass (born 1942),[3] Ed Bass (born 1945),[3] Robert Bass (born 1948)[3] and Lee Bass (born 1956)[3]
Death
He died on June 1, 2006, in Fort Worth, Texas.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Leslie Wayne, Perry R. Bass, 91, Patriarch of Famed Texas Oil Family, Dies, The New York Times, June 2, 2006
- 1 2 3 Perry Bass, 91; Texas Oil Heir Invested Well and Gave Generously, The Los Angeles Times, June 02, 2006
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kimbell Art Museum: The Collection of Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass
- 1 2 3 Perry Richardson Bass, billionaire philanthropist, The Houston Chronicle, June 2, 2006
- ↑ Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission: Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Center
- ↑ Roger Vaughan, The Grand Gesture (1975), page 137.
- ↑ "Yale University Science Building Wins Architecture Award". Yale University Press. 21 Jan 1997. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ↑ AP, Bass Family Story a Texas Legend, The Victoria Advocate, November 26, 1984
- ↑ Rob Patterson, Perry Richardson Bass: Wildcatter with a Giving Nature, SHALE Oil & Gas Business Magazine, January 27, 2015
- ↑ "DRYC - del Rey Yacht Club".
- ↑ Leslie Wayne, Perry R. Bass, 91, Patriarch of Famed Texas Oil Family, Dies, The New York Times, June 2, 2006