William Robert Berkley (born 1946) is the founder and current chairman of
W. R. Berkley Corporation
W. R. Berkley Corporation is a commercial lines property & casualty insurance holding company organized in Delaware and based in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The company operates commercial insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Euro ...
and the chairman of the
New York University Board of Trustees.
With a net worth of $4.4 billion he ranked 326th on the 2023 edition of the
Forbes 400.
Early life and education
Berkley grew up in
North Jersey, the middle child of three boys. When he was 11 years old, his father was killed in an airplane crash. He started investing in the stock market at age 12 with money he made from lawn mowing.
Berkley graduated from the
New York University Stern School of Business with an undergraduate degree in 1966.
He received an MBA from
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
in 1968. While at Harvard, he ran a $2 million mutual fund out of an apartment on the Harvard campus with a classmate, Paul Dean.
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Career
In 1967, he founded W. R. Berkley Corporation
W. R. Berkley Corporation is a commercial lines property & casualty insurance holding company organized in Delaware and based in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The company operates commercial insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Euro ...
.[ In November 1973, when the company became a public company via an initial public offering, he owned 23.8% of the company.][
]
Personal life
Berkley is married to Marjorie, who was his secretary when he founded his company. They have three children.
References
External links
William R. Berkley Collection
a
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, Emory University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkley, W. R.
1946 births
Living people
New York University Stern School of Business alumni
American business executives
Harvard Business School alumni
American billionaires