Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.
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Wilbur Louis Ross Jr. (born November 28, 1937) is an American businessman who served as the 39th United States Secretary of Commerce from 2017 to 2021. A member of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
, Ross was previously chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of
WL Ross & Co WL Ross & Co is a private equity company founded and based in New York by Wilbur Ross in April 2000. The company focuses on investments in financially distressed companies with undervalued stocks, in the $100 to $200 million range, usually in the ...
from 2000 to 2017. Before founding WL Ross & Co, Ross ran the bankruptcy restructuring practice at
N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild & Co is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business o ...
in New York beginning in the late 1970s. In April 2000, Ross left Rothschild to found WL Ross & Co. Ross was a banker known for acquiring and restructuring failed companies in industries such as steel, coal, telecommunications, and textiles, later selling them for a profit after operations improved, a record that had earned him the moniker "King of Bankruptcy". Ross has been chairman or lead director of more than 100 companies operating in more than 20 countries. Named by Bloomberg Markets as one of the 50 most influential people in global finance, Ross was previously an adviser to
New York City mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
on privatization, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the board of
The U.S. Russia Investment Fund The U.S. Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF) was an investment fund from 1995 to 2008. It was established by the United States government to make private investments in the Russian economy. By 2005, it had invested $300 million in 44 Russian companies, ...
. On November 30, 2016, then- President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Ross to become the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. On February 27, 2017, the Senate confirmed him in a 72–27 vote. He was sworn into office on February 28, 2017; at age 79, he was the oldest first-time Cabinet appointee in U.S. history.


Early life and education

Ross was born on November 28, 1937, in Weehawken, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby North Bergen, New Jersey. His father, Wilbur Louis Ross, was a lawyer who later became a judge, and his mother, Agnes (née O'Neill), of Irish descent, was valedictorian at Sacred Heart Academy in Hoboken and taught third grade in North Bergen for 40 years. Ross attended Xavier High School, a
Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
, and college-preparatory school in Manhattan. He ran track and was captain of the rifle team. He graduated in 1955. In 1959, he received a bachelor's degree from Yale College, his father's alma mater. At Yale, Ross edited one of the literary magazines and worked at the radio station. His dream was to be a writer. He enrolled in an English course that required writing a thousand words by 10 a.m. every day; after two weeks, he ran out of things to write about and dropped the course. His faculty adviser at Yale helped him get his first summer job on
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
. In 1961, he received a Master of Business Administration degree at
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 ...
.


Business career


Early career

In 1963, he joined what became Wood, Struthers & Winthrop. There, he liquidated the portfolio of its venture capital affiliate. He then worked for Faulkner, Dawkins & Sullivan, an institutional securities research company, where he rose to become president of its
investment banking Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...
operation. The firm was sold to what became Shearson Lehman.


Rothschild Investments

In 1976, Ross began his 24-year employment with the New York City office of Rothschild & Co, where he ran the
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
restructuring advisory practice. By 1998, Ross was involved in eight of the 25 biggest bankruptcies to date, including
Drexel Burnham Lambert Drexel Burnham Lambert was an American multinational investment bank that was forced into bankruptcy in 1990 due to its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by senior executive Michael Milken. At its height, it was a ...
, Texaco, Public Service of New Hampshire (now Eversource Energy), and
Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...
. In the 1980s, Donald Trump's three casinos in
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
were under threat of
foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...
from lenders. Ross, who was then the senior managing director of Rothschild & Co, represented investors in the casino. Along with Carl Icahn, Ross convinced bondholders to strike a deal that allowed Trump to keep control of the casinos.


WL Ross & Co.

In November 1997, under Rothschild & Co, Ross started a $200 million fund to invest in distressed securities. In its first year, it earned a 15.2% return. In April 2000, just before the dot-com bubble burst, Ross founded WL Ross & Co and raised $450 million to buy the fund from Rothschild and make additional investments. By 2003, the fund had averaged a 30% return. In 2006, Ross sold WL Ross & Co to Amvescap (now Invesco).


International Steel Group (ISG)

In February 2002, WL Ross & Co founded International Steel Group. He first agreed to buy the assets of bankrupt Ling-Temco-Vought for $325 million, paying $11 per ton of capacity when other firms were trading for $200 per ton of capacity. A few weeks later,
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
slapped a 30% tariff on many types of imported steel. A year later, WL Ross & Co acquired the assets of bankrupt Bethlehem Steel. As part of the bankruptcy reorganizations, these companies shifted their huge pension liabilities to the government-backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Ross had support from the
United Steelworkers The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...
, negotiating a deal to save some jobs. In April 2005, WL Ross & Co sold International Steel Group to
Mittal Steel Company Mittal Steel Company N.V. was an Indian company and one of the world's largest steel producers by volume and turnover. After a merger in 2005, it is now part of ArcelorMittal. History Mittal Steel Company was formed as Ispat International in 19 ...
for $4.5 billion, half in cash and half in stock, and made 12.5 times its original investment. Ross personally made a $260 million profit on his $3 million investment and gained a seat on the board of directors of Mittal Steel.


International Textile Group (ITG)

After outbidding Warren Buffett, who offered $579 million, WL Ross & Co acquired Burlington Industries for $620 million and combined it with
Cone Mills Cone Mills Corporation was a twentieth-century textile manufacturing, manufacturer of cotton fabrics that included corduroy, flannel, and denim. The company headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina and had its factory mills in parts of North ...
in 2004 to form
International Textile Group International Textile Group (ITG) is a diversified American fabric maker based in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina by Wilbur Ross and was sold to Platinum Equity in 2016, leading to its move from Gre ...
. In 2005, Ross acquired 77.3% of Safety Components International for $51.2 million. In October 2006, Ross had
International Textile Group International Textile Group (ITG) is a diversified American fabric maker based in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina by Wilbur Ross and was sold to Platinum Equity in 2016, leading to its move from Gre ...
acquire Safety Components International. Ross controlled both companies and in February 2014, Ross paid $81 million to settle a lawsuit brought by shareholders that Ross breached his fiduciary duty when structuring the merger.
International Textile Group International Textile Group (ITG) is a diversified American fabric maker based in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina by Wilbur Ross and was sold to Platinum Equity in 2016, leading to its move from Gre ...
was acquired by private equity firm Platinum Equity in 2016.


International Automotive Components Group (IAC)

International Automotive Components Group was formed in 2006 by WL Ross & Co and investment funds managed by Franklin Templeton Investments. In 2006, the company acquired the European operations of Lear Corporation and in 2007, it acquired Lear's North American interiors operations. In 2005–2007, IAC purchased several divisions of Collins & Aikman. In September 2005, investors led by Ross invested $100 million in Oxford Automotive for 25% of the company. In 2006, Oxford merged with
Wagon Automotive Wagon Automotive is an automotive parts company based in Birmingham, England. The company is controlled by the American businessman Wilbur Ross and employs over 4,000 workers across Europe.
.


International Coal Group (ICG)

WL Ross & Co founded
International Coal Group International Coal Group, Inc. (ICG), is a company headquartered in Teays Valley, West Virginia that was incorporated in May 2004 by WL Ross & Co for the sole purpose of acquiring certain assets of Horizon. ICG eventually operated 12 mining comple ...
in 2004 after acquiring the assets of several bankrupt coal companies. The
United Mine Workers of America The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing worke ...
protested the reorganization as it led to changes in
health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
and
pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
s for the existing employees. In 2006, the
Sago Mine disaster The Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion on January 2, 2006, at the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia, United States, near the Upshur County, West Virginia, Upshur County seat of Buckhannon, West Virginia, Buckhannon. The blast and coll ...
, an explosion in a coal mine indirectly owned by International Coal Group, likely caused by a lightning strike, led to the deaths of 12 miners. The mine had 12 roof collapses in 2005, and U.S. Department of Labor data showed 208
citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...
s for safety violations in that same period, including 21 times for build-up of toxic gases. Miners and their families accused Ross of ignoring safety violations. Ross defended his company's management of the mine. In 2011, Arch Coal acquired International Coal Group for $3.4 billion.


Navigator Gas

By January 2016, WL Ross & Co was the "biggest investor" in Navigator Gas, a liquefied gas shipping company.


Overstating of net worth

In February 2017, '' Forbes'' reported that Ross has a net worth of $2.5 billion. Financial disclosure forms filed by Ross after his nomination as Commerce Secretary showed less than $700 million in assets, and Forbes later revised his net worth to $600 million.


Grift allegations

In August 2018, '' Forbes'' reported that Ross's business partners and workers accused Ross of illicitly siphoning or stealing a total of $120 million. In December 2017, a report by two Irish financial analysts, commissioned by Luke Ming Flanagan, an Irish member of the European Parliament, accused Ross of
insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...
as part of a 2014 sale of shares in the
Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Iris ...
by WL Ross & Co.


Overcharging of fees

In August 2016, Ross agreed to reimburse investors $11.8 million and pay a fine of $2.3 million to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into the overcharging of fees by WL Ross & Co. The company had self-reported the issue and did not admit any liability. On August 7, 2018, five former WL Ross & Co. employees and investors claimed the firm was charging its investors fees on money it had lost, including allegedly charging fees on one investment that was essentially worthless.


United States Secretary of Commerce (2017–2021)

On November 30, 2016, then- President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Ross for
Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
. On February 27, 2017, the Senate confirmed Ross in a 72–27 vote. Ross was sworn into office on February 28, 2017. Ross took office at the age of 79, making him the oldest first-time Cabinet appointee in U.S. history. The previous record-holder was another Secretary of Commerce
Philip Klutznick Philip Morris Klutznick (July 9, 1907 – August 14, 1999) was a U.S. administrator who served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from January 9, 1980 to January 19, 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He was a prominent leader of several Jewish organ ...
, who took office in 1980 at the age of 72.


Trade issues


UK trade post-Brexit

In December 2016, after being designated by Trump as his nominee to lead the Commerce Department, Ross said in a speech to Cypriot financiers that Brexit was a "God-given opportunity" for other countries, such as Ireland and Germany, to draw business away from the United Kingdom's financial services industry. In 2017, Ross said that a trade deal with the UK was a low priority for the Trump administration; however, he outlined possible terms. No U.S. trade deal with the UK was concluded, although Ross and Treasury Secretary
Steve Mnuchin Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the Cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for a full pres ...
stated in January 2020 that they hoped to have an "easy" agreement with the UK that year.


Tariffs and trade wars

In September 2017, Ross traveled to Beijing as part of efforts to de-escalate the U.S.–China trade war. In February 2018, the Commerce Department recommended an increase of tariffs in aluminum and steel imports. On March 1, 2018, Trump implemented a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports. In September 2018, Ross said that the tariffs are meant to "modify China's behavior". In 2018, under Trump and Ross, the U.S. imposed tariffs on the import of steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. Ross dismissed concerns that the tariffs would increase costs to U.S. consumers, harm the U.S. economy, and damage relations with U.S. allies, saying that tariffs were "blips on the radar screen" and that the EU "will get over this in due course." He also dismissed concerns over EU retaliatory tariffs. In November 2019, Ross indicated that the Trump administration might now also impose tariffs on imports of automobiles from the EU; in January 2020, however, Ross said that the Trump administration might still impose tariffs on European cars despite ongoing trade talks. Also in January 2020, Ross threatened retaliation if the EU adopted a proposed carbon tax, comparing it to a proposed EU
digital services tax Digital goods are software programs, music, videos or other electronic files that users download exclusively from the Internet. Some digital goods are free, others are available for a fee. The taxation of digital goods and/or services, sometimes ref ...
, to which the administration has also threatened tariffs in response.


Ban of Huawei

In January 2019, Ross was present with other American politicians when 23 criminal charges were announced against Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou, including
financial fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid t ...
,
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
,
conspiracy against the United States Conspiracy against the United States, or conspiracy to defraud the United States,§ 92318 U.S.C. § 371—Conspiracy to Defraud the United States U.S. Department of Justice's ''United States Attorneys' Manual''. is a federal offense in the United ...
,
industrial espionage Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governmen ...
,
mail and wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activit ...
, obstruction of justice and violation of sanctions against Iran. In July 2019, Ross stated that the United States will keep Huawei on its blacklist but will allow licensed sales.


Accusations of being out of touch

In May 2017, Ross accompanied Trump on his first foreign visit, to Saudi Arabia, where Ross generated controversy after heralding the president's visit as a success due to a lack of protests, unaware that the Saudis had banned public protest and demonstrations since 2011. During the 2018–19 federal government shutdown, Ross was criticized as being out of touch with average American citizens after expressing bewilderment about why furloughed, unpaid workers and contractors would choose to visit food banks rather than apply for a personal loan.


Non-disclosures

In February 2019, Ross's financial disclosure was rejected by the
Office of Government Ethics The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is an independent agency within the executive branch of the U.S. Federal Government which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of intere ...
after he reported that he had sold bank stock when in fact he held on to them. Ross failed to disclose a lawsuit from ex-business partner David Storper on his financial disclosure forms. Ross settled the lawsuit for $9 million after being subpoenaed for information that he did not want to disclose.


Conflicts of interest from failure to divest

In June 2018, an investigation by '' Forbes'' found that Ross, while Secretary of Commerce, owned "stakes in companies co-owned by the Chinese government, a shipping firm tied to Vladimir Putin's inner circle, a Cypriot bank reportedly caught up in the Robert Mueller investigation, and that Ross had failed to divest his financial holdings, instead putting them in a trust for his family members, contradicting Ross's written statement in November 2017 that he had divested all his financial holdings. Ross may have broken the law in doing so. These holdings posed a conflict of interest for Ross, as the Trump administration was in a position to affect the value of the holdings. Ross was confirmed by the Senate in February 2017 and he agreed to sell his stocks before the end of May 2017. In July 2018, it was reported that Ross divested from his stock in Invesco, originally worth between $10 million and $50 million, in December 2017. Between the end of May and the sale date in December, the value of Ross's holdings in Invesco increased by between approximately $1.2 million to $6 million, depending on the number of shares he owned, which was not disclosed. Ross said that he "mistakenly believed that all ispreviously held Invesco stock was sold". On July 13, 2018, after he received a letter from the government's top ethics watchdog warning of "potential for a serious criminal violation", Ross announced that he will sell all his remaining stock. In October 2018, documents showed that Ross had participated in a meeting with executives from
Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...
where they discussed oil and gas developments, tax reform and trade issues. Ross's wife owned a stake in Chevron worth at least $250,000 at the time. In October 2020, it was reported that Ross had continued to serve on the board of a Chinese joint venture until January 2019 (which was nearly two years into his tenure as Secretary of Commerce); at the same time, the United States and China were engaged in a trade war.


Insider trading allegations

While Secretary of Commerce, Ross
shorted In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of a more conventional "long" position, where the investor will profit if the value of the a ...
at least five stocks. In June 2018, it was revealed that Ross
shorted In finance, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of a more conventional "long" position, where the investor will profit if the value of the a ...
stock after he knew of an upcoming report with information that would adversely affect the company but before the story was published. Ross later closed out the position at a substantial profit after the story was published. Ethics experts said that the shorting was alarming given that federal office-holders are prohibited from profiting on nonpublic information. Ross denied that he had engaged in
insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...
. Ross had shorted two additional stocks in June 2018 and two additional stocks in July 2018.


2020 Census citizenship question

As Secretary of Commerce, Ross oversaw the Census Bureau and the 2020 Census. In December 2017, he approved sending, in the form of a letter (which was originally drafted by
Thomas Hofeller Thomas Brooks Hofeller (April 14, 1943 – August 16, 2018) was a Republican political strategist primarily known for his involvement in gerrymandering electoral district maps favorable for Republicans. David Daley of ''The New Yorker'' referred ...
, a noted anti-immigrant political figure) that was later copied by James Uthmeier into a memo, a request to the Department of Justice to add a question to the Census for the first time since the 1940s asking about the U.S. citizenship status of the members of the responding household. Specifically, Ross sought to amend the decennial Census to add the controversial question: "Is this person a citizen of the United States?" New York solicitor general Barbara Underwood led a lawsuit filed by 18 states and many cities to attempt to stop the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. The Department of Justice supported the Department of Commerce. U.S. federal judge
Jesse M. Furman Jesse Matthew Furman (born June 7, 1972) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Early life and education Furman is the son of psychologist Gail (née Gorman) and real estat ...
ruled against the Department of Justice and Wilbur Ross, stating that if the trial is delayed the appeals process may not be done by summer 2019, the printing deadline of the census. Furman blocked the census question proposal on January 15, 2019, saying Ross had violated a "veritable smorgasbord" of federal rules, asserting Ross and his aides made false or misleading statements under oath and that he sought to add the question to the Census based on a pretext. The House of Representatives held Ross in contempt of Congress and accused Ross of lying about the citizenship question's origins. Specifically, Ross had testified under oath that the addition of the question was prompted by DOJ when in fact he had made the request via the Hofeller letter he had transmitted. It became known in July 2021 that the Justice Department inspector general had determined Ross had misled Congress, but the Trump Justice Department declined to prosecute him.


Contempt of Congress

Ross and the Trump administration refused to comply with a
congressional subpoena Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its United States congressional committee, committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Co ...
, issued by the House Oversight Committee, for documents regarding efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. After Trump asserted executive privilege over the subpoenaed documents, the House Oversight Committee voted to hold Ross and Attorney General William Barr in criminal
contempt of Congress Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Co ...
, with the committee's chairman saying that Ross and Barr had "blatantly obstructed our ability to do congressional oversight." In June 2019, the House held Barr and Ross in contempt of Congress on a mostly party-line 230–198 vote; this was only the second time in U.S. history that a sitting Cabinet member was held in contempt. The vote signified an escalation of the House of Representatives' battles with the Trump White House over congressional oversight, but was largely symbolic as Trump's Justice Department did not act on the criminal citation.


Supreme Court decision

On June 27, 2019, the Supreme Court, in ''
Department of Commerce v. New York ''Department of Commerce v. New York'', No. 18–966, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with the 2020 United States Census. The case concerned the decision of the United States Census Bureau ...
'', left the citizenship question blocked from the 2020 census, in part because of the government's explanation for why it was added. In the Supreme Court opinion, there was a significant mismatch between Secretary Ross's decision to add the question, and his stated reason that the question would support Department of Justice's Voter Rights Act.


Ownership in Navigator Gas

In November 2017, leaked documents known as the Paradise Papers showed that, during his confirmation hearings, Ross had failed to clearly disclose a financial interest in Navigator Gas, a shipping company which transports petrochemicals for Russian gas and petrochemicals company Sibur. Ross had failed to clearly disclose ties to Russian interests during his confirmation hearings. While his confirmation was pending, Ross promised in a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics to cut ties "with more than 80 financial entities in which he has interests". This letter played a key role in securing his confirmation. However, according to the leaked documents, while he did divest some holdings, he did not disclose the full extent of those he retained. Speaking about his financial ties to Navigator, Ross said the media was making "a lot more out of it than it deserves" and "There is nothing wrong with it. The fact that it happens to be called a Russian company doesn't mean there is any evil in it." A spokesman for Ross stated that Ross has never met Shamalov, Timchenko or Mikhelson and that Ross "recuses himself from any matters focused of transoceanic shipping vessels, but has been generally supportive of the administration's sanctions of Russian and Venezuelan entities".


Dysfunction of the Department of Commerce

In July 2019, ''Politico'' reported that the Commerce Department under Ross reached "new heights of distraction"; an outside source, as well as multiple senior staffers, described Ross as "seen as kind of irrelevant" and morale at the department as "very low because there's not a lot of confidence in the secretary." Ross allegedly left his department leaderless due to the large amounts of time spent in the White House trying to win support from President Trump. Also, Ross allegedly tends to fall asleep in meetings to the extent that senior staffers have avoided putting him in critical meetings where he could fall asleep. Reports of Ross's inability to stay awake have gone back as far as May 2017, where in a meeting in Riyadh with the Arab-Islam-American Summit during President Donald Trump's speech, Ross appeared to have been completely asleep.


NOAA/Hurricane Dorian controversy

On September 1, 2019, President Donald Trump made the incorrect claim that Hurricane Dorian presented a major threat to Alabama; minutes later the Birmingham, Alabama, branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) (which is under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is part of the Commerce Department) reported that Alabama was not at risk. ''The New York Times'' reported that Ross had threatened, a few days late, to fire high-level NOAA staff unless the agency disavowed its contradiction of Trump's false claim, leading to a September 6 NOAA statement from an unidentified spokesperson endorsing Trump's position and declaring that the NWS Birmingham's contradiction of Trump was incorrect. The Commerce Department denied that Ross had threatened to fire "any NOAA staff over forecasting and public statements about Hurricane Dorian." Later reporting said that Ross had made the call from Greece, where he was traveling, after being told to "fix the problem" by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, reportedly on Trump's orders. The NOAA's disavowal prompted an outcry from scientists and others, who said that the agency's failure to back its hurricane forecasters damaged its credibility. A subsequent report by the National Academy of Public Administration, commissioned by NOAA, found that NOAA's leadership violated the agency's scientific integrity policy by releasing a statement backing Trump's false statement about Hurricane Dorian's path. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Commerce Department separately investigated the incident and concluded that the Commerce Department "ran a 'flawed process' that did not sufficiently engage NOAA and went against the interests of the agency and the National Weather Service." In a July 2020 letter to Ross, Inspector General Peggy Gustafson expressed "deep concern" that the department was blocking OIG from publicly releasing its report by asserting "amorphous and generalized privileges." The letter prompted Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, the ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, to call upon Ross to "immediately cease this campaign to keep the public in the dark." The
House Science Committee The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdic ...
also probed Ross's role in the issuance of the NOAA statement.


Coronavirus pandemic

In a January 30, 2020, interview with
Maria Bartiromo Maria Sara Bartiromo (born September 11, 1967) is an American financial journalist, television personality, news anchor, and author. She is the host of ''Mornings with Maria'' and '' Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street'' on the Fox Business Network as ...
of
Fox Business Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue ...
, when asked if the COVID-19 outbreak in China would threaten the U.S. economy, Ross said, "I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America ... I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease ... the fact is, it does give business yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain." The outbreak became a pandemic, and caused a major recession, with 10 million Americans filing unemployment claims and unemployment rising more than during the entirety of the Great Recession.


2020 Census count early completion

Due to delays and operation challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ross and
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
director
Steven Dillingham Steven Dillingham served as the 25th director of the United States Census Bureau from January 7, 2019, to January 20, 2021. Education Dillingham graduated from Rock Hill High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1970. From 1970 to 1972 he att ...
announced on April 13, 2020, that they would extend the timeframe for field data collection and self-response for the
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
to October 31, 2020. However, on August 3, 2020, the Census Bureau announced that they were moving this deadline up to September 30, 2020. Community advocates and former Census Bureau employees expressed concern that this shortened timeframe would result in poor-quality data and a significant undercount that would disproportionately affect traditionally hard-to-count groups such as ethnic minorities, young adults, and people living in rural areas. On September 24, 2020, federal district court judge
Lucy Koh Lucy Haeran Koh (born August 7, 1968) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the Unit ...
issued a preliminary injunction against the plan to end counting on September 30 rather than the scheduled October 31, saying the Commerce Department "never articulated a satisfactory explanation." She also blocked a plan to deliver the count results to the White House by December 31, rather than the original April 2021 delivery date when Trump might be out of office. On the next business day, Ross announced the count would end October 5, as the administration appealed Koh's decision to the 9th circuit. Koh subsequently called the October 5 end date "a violation" of her court order and prepared to begin contempt proceedings against Ross and the Commerce Department. The appeals court rejected the administration's appeal, and the Census Bureau announced on October 2 that the count would continue until October 31. However, the counted ultimately ended at 11:59 PM on October 15 after the administration appealed to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, which issued a 7–1 ruling allowing the count to finish early.


Honors

In 1999, Ross was awarded the
Order of Industrial Service Merit The Order of Industrial Service Merit (Hangul: 산업훈장, Hanja: 産業勳章) is an order of merit of South Korea (the Republic of Korea). It is presented to individuals and businesses who have contributed to the development of industry and the ...
medal by South Korean president
Kim Dae Jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...
for his assistance during the
1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
. He was awarded the American Irish Historical Society Gold Medal in 2014 in recognition of his work in Ireland and Irish-American causes. The
Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...
awarded Ross the
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
, Gold and Silver Star, in recognition of his service as Chairman of the Board of New York's Japan Society, his work to promote and strengthen the Japanese economy, and his relief efforts after the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
.


Organizational memberships

Ross is a past director of the Turnaround Management Association and member of its hall of fame. Ross has been the vice-chairman of the board of
Bank of Cyprus The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) ( el, Τράπεζα Κύπρου, tr, Kıbrıs Bankası) is a Cypriot financial services company established in 1899 with its headquarters in Strovolos. Current operations The Bank of Cyprus currently operates 108 bra ...
, the largest bank in Cyprus, after he and his investors invested €400 million in the bank in 2014. As of January 2012, Ross was the leader (or "Grand Swipe") of the secret Wall Street fraternity, Kappa Beta Phi. Ross served on the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution. He is also on the board of advisors of Yale School of Management and is a former board member of the Yale University Art Gallery. He served as International Counsel Member of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, and President of the American Friends of the
René Magritte Museum René Magritte Museum (french: Musée René Magritte, nl, René Magritte Museum) is a museum in Jette, a municipality in Brussels, Belgium, devoted to the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. The museum is located at 135, /, in the house wh ...
in Brussels. Ross has been on the
board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
of Navigator Gas since March 2012.


Political views


Support for Democratic Party and switch

Although he was an early supporter of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Ross was previously a registered
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
, served as an officer of the
New York State Democratic Committee The New York State Democratic Committee is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, and it has an office in Albany, New York, Alba ...
, and held fundraisers for Democratic candidates at his apartment in New York City. He served under President Bill Clinton on the board of
the U.S. Russia Investment Fund The U.S. Russia Investment Fund (TUSRIF) was an investment fund from 1995 to 2008. It was established by the United States government to make private investments in the Russian economy. By 2005, it had invested $300 million in 44 Russian companies, ...
. In January 1998, he funded $2.25 million in seed money into the campaign of his then-wife,
Betsy McCaughey Elizabeth Helen McCaughey (; née Peterken; born October 20, 1948), formerly known as Betsy McCaughey Ross, is an American politician who was the Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1995 to 1998, during the first term of Governor George Pataki. ...
, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for
Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
. Since at least 2011, Ross has donated to Republican candidates and organizations. Ross became a registered Republican in November 2016.


Privatization

In the 1990s, New York City mayor
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
appointed Ross as his privatization advisor. He helped push to privatize the city's public broadcasting stations and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and worked to sell off empty
land lot In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...
s to businesses.


Trade policy

Ross has described himself as "pro-sensible trade" and said that the U.S. government "should provide access to our markets to those countries who play fair, play by the rules and give everybody a fair chance to compete. Those who do not should not get away with it – they should be punished." Initially in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Ross has said that after examining the agreement, he found it was "not consistent with what was advertised". In 2004, '' The Economist'' described Ross as a supporter of protectionism. At the 2018 World Economic Forum in
Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...
, Ross responded to concerns of a trade war by noting that "There have always been trade wars. The difference now is U.S. troops are now coming to the ramparts."


Personal life

Ross married Judith Nodine in 1961. They divorced in 1995. After the divorce, Nodine sued Ross for failing to transfer stock by the agreed-upon deadline and Ross counter-sued. They had two children, Jessica Colby Ross (b. 1962) and Amanda Colby Ross (b. 1965). Amanda attended the
French Culinary Institute The International Culinary Center was a private for-profit culinary school headquartered in New York City. In 2020, it merged into the Institute of Culinary Education, also in New York City. It was founded as The French Culinary Institute by D ...
and founded a baking company, while Jessica worked for Sotheby's. In 1995, Ross married his second wife,
Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...
Betsy McCaughey Elizabeth Helen McCaughey (; née Peterken; born October 20, 1948), formerly known as Betsy McCaughey Ross, is an American politician who was the Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1995 to 1998, during the first term of Governor George Pataki. ...
. They divorced in 2000. On October 9, 2004, Ross married his third wife, Hilary Geary Ross, a society writer for ''
Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
'' magazine. In December 2016, while his Manhattan penthouse apartment at The Briarcliffe was on the market for $21 million,"Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Won’t Profit From Briarcliff Penthouse"
– Observer, March 3, 2017
Ross purchased a 10,000 square foot house in the Massachusetts Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., from
Adrienne Arsht Adrienne Arsht (born February 4, 1942) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She made a $30 million contribution to Miami-Dade County's Performing Arts Center, which was renamed the Adrienne Arsht Center. She is on the board of truste ...
for $10,750,000. In 2018, he purchased a $3.2 million house in
The Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...
. He also owns two multimillion-dollar properties in
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...
. Ross owns an art collection valued at $150 million that includes pieces ranging from Western
surrealists Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
to contemporary Eastern sculptures. Ross owns 25 works by René Magritte, valued at $100 million, including some of the artist's most valuable paintings, such as ''The Pilgrim''.


Philanthropy

Ross donated $10 million for the construction of the new campus of Yale School of Management.


See also

* List of people and organisations named in the Paradise Papers


References


External links


Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Wilbur 1937 births American financiers American people of Irish descent Harvard Business School alumni Living people N M Rothschild & Sons people New Jersey Democrats New Jersey Republicans People from North Bergen, New Jersey People from Weehawken, New Jersey Private equity and venture capital investors Spouses of New York (state) politicians Trump administration cabinet members United States Secretaries of Commerce Xavier High School (New York City) alumni Yale College alumni Yale University alumni People named in the Paradise Papers Second Ladies and Gentlemen of New York (state)