J Ira Harris passed away

Submitted by m1jjb00 on February 22nd, 2022 at 2:47 PM

He and his family donated $10 million to the athletic department, endowing the football coach

(Bloomberg) -- J. Ira Harris, a former senior partner of
Salomon Brothers who played a leading role in establishing
Chicago as a viable Wall Street stand-in for dealmaking and
investment banking, has died. He was 83.


He died on Monday at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, of an
apparent heart attack, according to his son, Jon.


The New York-born Harris was a fixture at Salomon during
its final years as a private partnership through its transition
following its 1981 sale to Phibro Corp., the world’s largest
publicly owned commodity trading firm. Harris’s fulsome embrace
of Chicago, both as a businessman and longtime resident, boosted
the profile and prospects of the banking industry outside New
York City. 

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stephenrjking

February 22nd, 2022 at 3:13 PM ^

Those of us who aren't wealthy probably have a variety of mixed feelings about people who have considerable wealth, and how they use it and portray themselves. That's pretty natural. 

But they're still people. In the end, that's all any of us are. And, for those of us who are fans of Michigan, it's worth remembering that an elite athletics program in this environment requires some pretty wealthy people to give considerable funds for the program to function at the level we want to see it achieve. 

So, as much as we may roll our eyes at the elaborate name of the coaching position, we can get good coaches and attract athletes with good programs and facilities because of people like Mr. Harris. 

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MNWolverine2

February 22nd, 2022 at 3:34 PM ^

Truly curious why there isn't a new generation of Michigan "big" donors?  It seems like all of Michigan's big athletics donors are "old" money - guys who graduated from Michigan 50+ years ago.

Michigan State's biggest donors all seems to be in their 30s and 40s.  

Is there a gap in Mich grads starting new businesses, etc. who graduated in 90s or 200s?

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xgojim

February 22nd, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^

How blessed Michigan is that it attracts people that are not only intelligent but can take financial advantage of their place in life, then return their thanks in multitudes of cash to their alma mater.  Not an every day event.  May the Lord bless each and every one of them, not to mention their families who perhaps could have claimed some of the proceeds passed to the University.

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BTB grad

February 22nd, 2022 at 4:27 PM ^

@MNWolverine2 

The vast majority of billionaires become so once they’re old. Even Warren Buffett didn’t become one until he was 55. Ross didn’t really start donating until this century once he was in his 60s. Young billionaires are rather rare. We have plenty of successful U-M alumni who are currently in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s that will eventually hit the B club and replace those outgoing.

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blueheron

February 22nd, 2022 at 5:39 PM ^

RIP, Mr. Harris.

Coastal journalism is awesome sometimes. I'd never argue that Chicago is a larger financial center than NYC. But you might get a sense from reading the article that it was a backwater prior to the '80s. Never mind the history of the CBOT, etc. ...

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