James Dixon Robinson III (November 19, 1935 – March 18, 2024) was an American businessman best known for his position as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

Co. from 1977 until his retirement in 1993.

Early life and education

James Dixon Robinson III was born to a wealthy family in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

on November 19, 1935. 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 where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. After college, Robinson joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. He later earned an MBA from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1961.

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 McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

. 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. He played a prominent role in the RJR Nabisco

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

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.'"

Other positions

Robinson became a director of

The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

in 1975. 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 Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, 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 and was honorary chairman of the

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...

. Robinson was a member of the Business Council and the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, and an honorary trustee of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

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.

Personal life

In 1957, Robinson married Bettye Bradley; they had two children and divorced in 1983. He married Linda Gosden Robinson in July 1984. They have two children together. In 1991, Robinson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member

Henry Kravis Henry Roberts Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, at a hospital in Roslyn, New York. He was 88.

References

External links

Biography on the RRE websiteProfile on ForbesBusinessWeek profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, James D. Iii 1935 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American Express people Businesspeople from Atlanta Deaths from pneumonia in New York (state) Deaths from respiratory failure Directors of The Coca-Cola Company Georgia Tech alumni Harvard Business School alumni United States Navy sailors Woodberry Forest School alumni American chief executives of financial services companies American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies