Robert Alexander Belfer (born 1935) is an American oilman and philanthropist who is known for his stake in
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
and is the namesake of
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in Oc ...
at
Harvard Kennedy School
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
.
Early life and education
Belfer is the son of American oil industry executive and multimillionaire
Arthur Belfer, founder of the Belco Petroleum Corporation, which
became a
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
company. Robert Belfer was born in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in 1935 and graduated from
Columbia College in 1955 and
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1958.
Career
After completing law school, Belfer joined the Belco Petroleum Corp. He was elected president in 1960 and was named its chairman in 1985. The company subsequently merged into one of the predecessors of
Enron Corp, the
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
-based
InterNorth, Inc., and the Belfer family received a sizeable equity stake in the transaction, eventually becoming
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
's largest shareholder. What the family received was a special class of stock by which each share could be convertible into 27 common shares and paid big dividends.
Belfer served the board of directors of
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
and was estimated to have held over 16 million
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
shares as of August, 2000.
However, he was reported to be reticent on the board and was not involved in the operations of the company.
He resigned from the board in June, 2002.
His shares earned him a spot on the
Forbes 400. However, after the collapse of stock prices following the
Enron scandal
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen then on ...
, the Belfer family holdings, valued at $661 million at the peak stock price of August 2000, were valued at just $6.3 million in 2001. The preferred shares he and his family owned in
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
would have been worth as much as $1.4 billion, according to analysts.
Nevertheless, prior to the
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...
collapse, he had diversified into New York City real estate and founded a second energy company, Belco Oil & Gas Corp., in 1992.
The company went public in 1996 through
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
, raising more than $100 million.
It was acquired by a Denver-based oil company in 2001.
Philanthropy
In addition to his business ventures, Belfer is well known for his philanthropic endeavors. He is a major donor to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, where he founded the Robert and Renée Belfer Court for early Greek and prehistoric art in 1996. He also gave generously to
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
, which named
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in Oc ...
after him in 1997. He also donated to
Weizmann Institute of Science as well as the
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
.
His philanthropic activities have focused on medical institutions. He donated to
Yeshiva University, whose tallest building, Belfer Hall, was named after his family, and served as the chair of the board of overseers of the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also served on the board of
Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, to which he donated $250 million over the years. The school's $100 million Belfer Research Building, dedicated in 2014, is named after him.
Belfer sat on the board of directors of
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated b ...
and donated $25 million to found the Robert A. and Renée E. Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science.
He also was the founding donor for the Neurodegeneration Consortium, a multi-institutional collaboration to find treatments for Alzheimer's disease, which is based out of
MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Belfer also endowed a professorship at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations, which is held by the political scientist
Jack Snyder.
Personal life
He is married to Renée E Belfer, and the couple has three children and five grandchildren. His daughter, Shelley Belfer, is married to Anthony Malkin, son of
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
owner and lawyer
Peter L. Malkin and grandson of
Lawrence Wien.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfer, Robert A.
American business executives
Enron people
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
American Jews
American philanthropists
American businesspeople in the oil industry
American company founders
Living people
1935 births