Martin Trust also known as Marty Trust (1934 – 2019) was an American

business magnate A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

entrepreneur and philanthropist who was also known for his contributions to the

economy of Sri Lanka The mixed economy of Sri Lanka was valued at LKR 29.89 trillion (around $99 billion) in 2024 by gross domestic product (GDP) and $342.6 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP) Sri Lanka's economy expanded by 5.0% in 2024, marking a strong rec ...

by modernising the country's apparel industry. He is also known as the 'father of the modern Sri Lankan apparel industry', as he was instrumental in making the country one of the global leaders in the apparel industry. He is still regarded as one of the pioneers of American fashion retail sector. He died on 12 September 2019 at his home at the age of 84 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, US.

Early life

Martin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1934 in a middle class family. He joined his father Max Trust on his bread truck routes, delivering bread from the factories to restaurants.

Career

He received his Bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and after graduation, he decided to enter into the apparel industry. He co-founded the MAST Industries with small capital along with his wife in 1970, which later went onto become one of the important fashion industries in US. In 1978, Limited Brands acquired MAST Industries. He also introduced the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship in 1990s which is a scholarship scheme to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. Trust began working with the Sri Lankan textiles and apparel companies in 1985. Trust continued to work with those companies, establishing MAST Industries first joint venture with Sri Lanka's Omar Group (formerly called as LM Apparels, part of Brandix) in 1986. In 1987, the MAST Industries under Trust's leadership established another joint venture with Amalean Group of Sri Lanka. Trust invested in over twenty different businesses in Sri Lanka over a period of thirty years, which enabled the growth in the Sri Lankan economy. In 1994, the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital o ...

honored him by awarding the title, Sri Lanka Ranjana, for his outstanding and active involvement in the development of the country’s apparel industry. He also founded Trust Family Industries in 2001 and launched Brandot International in the same year.

Personal life

He met Diane, who was later known as Dena, Kagen in 1957, and they married three years later.

Legacy

In 2011, the

(MIT) honored him by giving new services in respect of him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trust, Martin 1934 births 2019 deaths Sri Lankan businesspeople People from Brownsville, Brooklyn Businesspeople from Brooklyn 20th-century American philanthropists