James D. Robinson III
{{Short description|American businessman (1935–2024)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{COI|date=August 2017}}
{{sources|date=December 2009}}
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Robinson III
| image = James D Robinson III.jpg
| birth_name = James Dixon Robinson III
| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|11|19}}
| birth_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|3|18|1935|11|19}}
| death_place = Roslyn, New York, U.S.
| education = Woodberry Forest School
| alma_mater = Georgia Institute of Technology (BS)
Harvard University (MBA)
| employer = American Express
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Bettye Bradley|1957|1983|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Linda Gosden|1984}}}}
| children = 4
}}
James Dixon Robinson III (November 19, 1935 – March 18, 2024) was an American businessman best known for his position as the chief executive officer of American Express Co. from 1977 until his retirement in 1993.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/0920/6407055a.html?partner=whiteglove_google|title=The return of Jimmy Three Sticks|last=Olan|first=Kerry A.|date=September 20, 1999|work=Forbes|access-date=December 21, 2009}}
Early life and education
James Dixon Robinson III was born to a wealthy family in Atlanta on November 19, 1935.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/business/james-d-robinson-3d-dead.html|title = James D. Robinson III, Former Chief of American Express, Dies at 88|last = Hershey|first = Robert D. Jr.|date = March 18, 2024|accessdate = March 18, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited}} 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{{cite web |title=A New York VC Spotlight: James Robinson III – AlleyWatch |url=https://www.alleywatch.com/2014/02/a-new-york-vc-spotlight-james-robinson-iii/}}{{cite web|url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/sum93/own.html |title=On His Own |last=Schwartz |first=Jerry |date=Summer 1993 |work=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine |access-date=December 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050318133445/http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/sum93/own.html |archive-date=March 18, 2005 }} where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. After college, Robinson joined the United States Navy.{{cite web |title=James D. Robinson III |url=https://www.nndb.com/people/339/000124964/ |website=www.nndb.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.chiphi.org/Alumni/AlumniMenAchievement.aspx |title=DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI OF CHI PHI FRATERNITY |work=Chi Phi Fraternity |access-date=December 21, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308103645/http://chiphi.org/Alumni/AlumniMenAchievement.aspx |archive-date= March 8, 2009 }} He later earned an MBA from Harvard University in 1961.{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/339/000124964/|title=James D. Robinson III|work=NNDB|access-date=December 21, 2009}}
American Express
James D. Robinson III served as 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.{{cite news| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-28-ca-436-story.html |title= COVER STORY : The Man Behind the Monster : It may be hard to recall life before MTV, but Bob Pittman, who shaped and sold the concept, remembers it well|author= Bob Pittman|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date = July 28, 1991}} He played a prominent role in the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout battle as chronicled in the book Barbarians at the Gate. Actor Fred Thompson played Robinson in the 1993 movie.
By the end of Robinson's tenure, he acknowledged that it had not gone well, saying that his "major miscalculation was ‘a focus on overly rapid growth.'"{{cite news |last1=Meehan |first1=John |title=Failed Vision: Jim Robinson's Big Plans for American Express Aren't Working |work=BusinessWeek |date=March 19, 1990}}
Other positions
Robinson became a director of The Coca-Cola Company in 1975.{{cite web|url=http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/board-of-directors-james-d-robinson-iii |title=James D. Robinson III |work=Board of Directors |publisher=The Coca-Cola Company |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020190811/http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/board-of-directors-james-d-robinson-iii |archive-date=October 20, 2013 }} 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.
Robinson also served on the Boards of Directors of PrimeRevenue{{cite web|url= http://primerevenue.com/news/press-releases/primerevenue-announces-board,-executive-appointment-and-continued-growth.html|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130808190843/http://primerevenue.com/news/press-releases/primerevenue-announces-board,-executive-appointment-and-continued-growth.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= August 8, 2013|title= PrimeRevenue Announces Board, Executive Appointment and Continues Growth}} 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 served as 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.[http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120416005213/en/Jefferies-Appoints-Global-Senior-Advisory-Board Global Senior Advisory Board]
Personal life
In 1957, Robinson married Bettye Bradley; they had two children and divorced in 1983. He married Linda Gosden Robinson in July 1984.{{Cite news |last=Fromson |first=Brett D. |date=October 3, 1993 |title=RANK HATH ITS PRIVILEGES, AND ITS PENTHOUSE |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1993/10/03/rank-hath-its-privileges-and-its-penthouse/a66dd00d-3c97-45ae-b390-4047f4116f41/ |access-date=February 22, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}} They have two children together.{{Cite web |title=Linda Robinson {{!}} US Squash |url=https://ussquash.org/2019/10/linda-robinson/ |access-date=February 22, 2023 |language=en-US}}
In 1991, Robinson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Henry Kravis.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}{{cite web |title= Henry R. Kravis Biography and Interview|url= https://achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/|quote= Henry R. Kravis presenting the Golden Plate Award to James D. Robinson III, Chairman of American Express during the introductory dinner and symposium of the 1991 Summit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.}}
On March 18, 2024, Robinson died from respiratory failure, a complication of pneumonia, at a hospital in Roslyn, New York. He was 88.
References
External links
- [http://www.rre.com/james-d-robinson-iii/ Biography on the RRE website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090215221409/http://people.forbes.com/profile/james-d-robinson/20799 Profile on Forbes]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120927071843/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=535479&privcapId=22779&previousCapId=20117&previousTitle=Warburg%20Pincus%20LLC BusinessWeek profile]
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{{s-bus}}
{{Succession box|title=CEO of American Express|
before=Howard L. Clark Sr.|
after=Harvey Golub|
years=1977–1993}}
{{S-end}}
{{American Express}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, James D. Iii}}
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:American Express people
Category:Businesspeople from Atlanta
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state)
Category:Deaths from respiratory failure
Category:Directors of The Coca-Cola Company
Category:Harvard Business School alumni
Category:United States Navy sailors
Category:Woodberry Forest School alumni
Category:American chief executives of financial services companies