Raymond G. Perelman (August 22, 1917 – January 14, 2019) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who served as the founder, chairman and CEO of RGP Holdings. He was the father of

Ronald Perelman Ronald Owen Perelman (; born January 1, 1943) is an American banker, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, his company, has invested in companies with interests in groceries, cigars, licorice, makeup, ca ...

and Jeffrey E. Perelman. He was known for his philanthropy and charitable giving, as well as his close ties with the city of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Early life

Raymond Perelman grew up in the Olney and Feltonville neighborhoods of Philadelphia.

Education

Raymond Perelman studied business and finance at the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

of the

. He graduated from Wharton in 1940, and began his career in investing and philanthropy.

Career

His early career was spent working at his father's family business, American Paper Products Company. He remained there for 50 years. In 1960, Perelman bought the company Belmont Iron Works, "the largest steel fabricator in the Northeast, which provided structural steel for the construction industry." Raymond Perelman, through RGP Holdings, owned significant interests in financial, manufacturing and mining companies. He was a Trustee of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman Education Foundation. Raymond Perelman was the Chairman and CEO of Belmont Holdings Corporation from 1994 onward. He also served as President and CEO of Champion Parts, as well as the Chairman of Grefco Minerals and additional companies. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Raymond and Ruth Perelman donated hundreds of millions to various organizations, with the

being the largest benefactor. In 2011 alone, they donated over $227 million, with $225 million going to the University of Pennsylvania.

Personal

Raymond Perelman had been in legal disputes with his son, Jeffrey Perelman. He was Jewish, and died on January 14, 2019, at age 101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perelman, Raymond 1917 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American philanthropists American billionaires American chief executives of financial services companies American Orthodox Jews American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Philadelphia American men centenarians People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art Jews from Pennsylvania Jewish centenarians Wharton School alumni