Top One Percent: Wilbur Ross Jr.

One mogul who is not supporting the Obama campaign, at least not yet, is investor Wilbur Ross Jr.

Ross, CEO of WL Ross & Co., is one of our Top One Percenters, having more connections and influence than 99 percent of the other people in our database.

And, of course, he has more money than most. Ross has built a fortune investing in steel, coal and textiles. New York magazine calls him a “connoisseur of failed companies.” Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.1 billion.

In recent years, Ross, 73, has made relatively small contributions to Republican campaigns, backing Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in the last presidential run.

Wilbur Ross

But this year, he has stepped up his support. In May, he gave $20,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee and $25,000 to the Boehner for Speaker committee. He kicked in another $5,000 to Friends of John Boehner the following month.

FEC records don’t show any contributions yet to 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls, but Bloomberg quoted Ross last month as saying he found New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to be “very impressive.”

Contrast this with the 1990s, when Ross was married to Republican Betsy McCaughey, New York’s lieutenant governor during George Pataki’s first term. Ross was then known as a Democrat.

He apparently was willing to suppress his political tendencies for marital bliss, however short-lived. The New York Times wedding story in 1995 noted that the cake was decorated with two elephants with intertwined trunks.

McCaughey changed parties to launch an unsuccessful bid for governor three years later. The race was a mother lode for the tabloids. Ross kicked off the campaign with a $2.25 million contribution, but later withdrew his donation.

In the meantime, his first wife took him to court saying he had cheated her out of $500,000 in their 1995 divorce settlement. “If he can afford to launch a gubernatorial campaign, he can afford to pay the small amount of money he owes me,” Judith Ross said then.

Ross and McCaughey later divorced, and Ross married society writer Hilary Geary in 2004. The nuptials again warranted attention by the Times, which noted that the table decorations at the reception included bars of soap labeled “Vote.”

Tweet This! Share on Facebook

Click here to sign up for the Muckety Newsletter

• Wilbur Ross invests in wind power - November 23, 2009
• Betsy McCaughey reheats opposition to health care reform - August 17, 2009
• Boone Pickens, like Ross Perot, has a plan to save America - July 8, 2008
• Top GOP aide quits, slamming door behind him - November 18, 2010
• Top One Percent: Howard Milstein - October 23, 2011
• Top One Percent: Shirley Ann Jackson - October 27, 2011
• Ed Rollins and Hamilton Jordan may face off - January 6, 2008
• Smurfs promoter Stuart R. Ross charged with extortion - August 27, 2008
• Muck tracker - John Kanas mounts takeover bid - May 14, 2009
• Small donors played comparable roles in Obama and Bush campaigns - November 30, 2008