Robert Byron Gillam (July 7, 1946 – September 12, 2018) was an American investor. He was the founder and chairman of McKinley Capital Management, an

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastr ...

firm, until his death in 2018.

Early life

Robert Gillam graduated from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 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 ...

in 1968. He received a master of business administration degree from the

UCLA Anderson School of Management The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management (branded as UCLA Anderson) is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school offers MBA (full-time, part-time, executive), Post Graduate Program for Executi ...

in 1969.

Career

Gillam worked for Foster & Marshall, a financial firm, until it was acquired by

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 ...

in 1982. He worked for Boettcher and Company from 1982 to 1985. Gillam was the founder of McKinley Capital Management, an asset management firm. He served as its chairman. As of 2015, it had US$7 billion of assets under management.

Political activity

Gillam was a Republican. After the 2016 presidential election, he was regarded as a contender to be secretary of the interior under

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, though

Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith Zinke ( ; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Zinke served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. re ...

was ultimately chosen for the position. He was also considered a potential candidate for

governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, but he did not run.

Personal life

Gillam resided in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, near Campbell Lake. He spent $30 million opposing the proposed

Pebble Mine Pebble Mine is the common name of a proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mining project in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark. It was discovered in 1987, optioned by Northern Dynasty Minerals in 2001, ex ...

, which would have been close to his Lake Clark fishing lodge. He was married to the former Mary Lou Couch, and had five children. Gillam died at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage on September 12, 2018, aged 72, from complications of a stroke he had the day prior.

References

1946 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Alaska Republicans American financial company founders Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Businesspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska Deaths from intracranial aneurysm UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni Wharton School alumni {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub