William Robert Berkley (born 1946) is the founder and current chairman of W. R. Berkley Corporation and the chairman of the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Board of Trustees. With a net worth of $4.4 billion he ranked 326th on the 2023 edition of the

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Early life and education

Berkley grew up in

North Jersey North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of northern New Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquial one rather than an administrati ...

, 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 The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...

with an undergraduate degree in 1966. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School 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.

Career

In 1967, he founded W. R. Berkley Corporation. In November 1973, when the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

, he owned 23.8% of the company. In 2015, he left the CEO position to become Executive Chairman. To which his son Rob Berkley Jr. took over as CEO. Berkley has served as chairman of board at

, his alma mater, since 2014.

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