Wylie Fay Leon Tuttle (died April 5, 2002) was an American real estate developer who was behind the construction of the

Tour Montparnasse Tour Maine-Montparnasse (Maine-Montparnasse Tower), also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a office skyscraper in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the List of tallest buildings and structures in t ...

, the tallest building in Europe upon its completion in 1972.

Biography

A native New Yorker, Tuttle (born in 1923) graduated from Columbia College in 1944. He was a member of the

Delta Phi Delta Phi () is a fraternal society established in Schenectady, New York, on November 17, 1827. Its first chapter was founded at Union College, and was the third and final member of the Union Triad. In 1879, William Raimond Baird's '' America ...

fraternity and rowed for the varsity crew team. He was a Navy pilot in the Pacific theater during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he joined the real estate firm known then as Brown, Wheelock, Harris & Stevens in New York. He then founded Collins-Tuttle with Arthur Collins in 1954. He served as president of the company until he died. Tuttle seized the opportunity that arose out of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

' growing need for urban development and decided to use American building expertise to help construct a modern landmark, stating at the time that "Paris needs a skyscraper and the competition here isn't as strong." Tuttle and his associate, Herbert Papock, eventually enlisted a consortium of 17 French insurance companies and seven banks in the $140-million multiple-building project that became known as the

. The financing was led by French industrialist Jean-Claude Aaron. After the complex was finished, Tuttle turned over the management to his French partners. After his initial success in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he continued his real estate ventures across the

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, and was also a founder and the first president of the Young Men's Real Estate Association. Tuttle maintained a residence at

Rock Hall, Maryland Rock Hall, is a waterfront town located directly on the National Scenic Byway, National Chesapeake Scenic Byway in Kent County, Maryland, Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,310 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

, that was designed by the architect Paul Rudolph in 1984 and built in 1986. He died on April 5, 2002, at his home at age 79. His daughter, Alexandra Tuttle, correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was killed on September 22, 1993, when the military plane on which she was flying was hit by an Abkhazian ground-to-air missile. She was on her way to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where she was covering the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

after the collapse of the

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuttle, Wylie Year of birth missing 2002 deaths American businesspeople in real estate American chief executives Businesspeople from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni