James Dixon Robinson III (born 19 November 1935) is an American businessman best known for his position as the chief executive officer of

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

Co. from 1977 until his retirement in 1993.

Education

Robinson attended Woodberry Forest School and is a 1957 graduate of Georgia Tech's School of Industrial Management where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. He earned an MBA from Harvard in 1961.

Business career

American Express

James D. Robinson III served as Chairman & CEO of the American Express Company for approximately 16 years. He held additional positions at the company prior to that. While at American Express, Robinson achieved the senior position at the company after his competitor for the position, Robert Morley, launched a thwarted hostile takeover of McGraw-Hill. Robinson went on to purchase Shearson Lehman, IDS, First Data Corporation,

Trade Development Bank Trade Development Bank (TDB) was a private Geneva-based bank built by Edmond Safra, who also founded Brazil's sixth largest bank, Banco Safra, in the 1950s. Beginning with only US$1 million in funds, TDB grew into the flagship of Safra’s interna ...

(Switzerland), and several others. He co-created Warner-Amex with Steve Ross. He played a prominent role in the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout battle as chronicled in the book '' Barbarians at the Gate''. Actor

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

played Robinson in the 1993 movie. By the end of Robinson's tenure, he acknowledged that it had not gone well, saying that his "major miscalculation was ‘a focus on overly rapid growth.'"

Other positions

Robinson has been a director of The Coca-Cola Company since 1975. He is a general partner and co-founder of

RRE Ventures RRE Ventures is an American Venture capital, Venture Capital firm based in New York City. The firm primarily invests in Seed money, seed, Series A round, series A and series B rounds and focuses on companies operating in the software, internet, c ...

, a private information technology venture investment firm, along with his son, James D. Robinson IV, a venture capitalist, and a classmate of his son 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 ...

, Stuart J. Ellman. Robinson is also president of J.D. Robinson, Inc., a strategic consulting firm. He was previously a long-time Director and Chairman of Bristol-Myers Squibb, and of Violy, Byorum & Partners, which operated in South America. Robinson also serves on the Boards of Directors of PrimeRevenue, and is honorary chairman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Robinson is a member of the

Business Council The Business Council is an organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

, and an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution and

World Travel & Tourism Council The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum for the travel and tourism industry. It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry. It is know ...

, where he was a co-founder. In previous years, he served as co-chairman of the

Business Roundtable The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit lobbyist association based in Washington, D.C. whose members are chief executive officers of major United States companies. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose members are entire businesses, BRT ...

and chairman of the

Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations Advisory may refer to: * Advisory board, a body that provides advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation * Boil-water advisory, a public health directive given by government to consumers when a community's drinking wat ...

. He is currently a member of investment bank

Jefferies Jefferies is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alan Jefferies (born 1957), Australian writer * Annalee Jefferies (born 1954), American actress * Chris Jefferies (born 1980), American basketball player * Cindy Jefferies, Englis ...

' Global Senior Advisory Board.

Personal life

Both Robinson and his son James D. Robinson IV are members of the Augusta National Golf Club. In 1991, Robinson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Henry Kravis.

References

External links

Biography on the RRE websiteProfile on ForbesBusinessWeek profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, James D. Iii 1935 births Living people Directors of The Coca-Cola Company Georgia Tech alumni American Express people Place of birth missing (living people) Harvard Business School alumni Woodberry Forest School alumni Businesspeople from Atlanta