Billionaire Laurance Rockefeller Dead at 94
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Laurance Rockefeller, a billionaire grandson of John D. Rockefeller who became a prominent philanthropist and supporter of environmental conservation, died in his sleep Sunday morning at his Manhattan home. He was 94.
The cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis, family spokesman Fraser
Forbes magazine last year put Rockefeller's net worth at $1.5 billion, ranking him the 140th richest American. He had homes in New York City, Woodstock, Vermont, and Tarrytown, New York, the Westchester County suburb about 30 miles north of New York City.
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller was born on May 26, 1910, in New York. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Princeton University and studied for two years at Harvard Law School.
Influenced by his father, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and having spent many summers on Mt. Desert Island in Maine, Laurance Rockefeller became a strong supporter of the environment, serving under five U.S. presidents in conservation and outdoor recreation advisory capacities.
He founded the American Conservation Association Inc. in 1958, and was chairman of the New York Zoological Society.
A long-time supporter of cancer research, Rockefeller was chairman of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1960 to 1982, later becoming honorary chairman.
Under then New York governor and older brother Nelson Rockefeller, Laurance Rockefeller replaced Robert Moses in the early 1960s as chairman of New York's State Council of Parks. The appointment provoked charges of nepotism, as discussed in Robert Caro's book "The Power Broker."
A self-described "gadgeteer," Rockefeller also became known in the field of venture capital.
He favored investments in new businesses whose future depended mainly on scientific and technological developments. These included Eastern Air Lines, McDonnell Aircraft Corp.,
President George H.W. Bush in the early 1990s awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal for his work in conservation, the environment and cancer research.
"His compassion for his fellow man was palpable," said younger brother David Rockefeller, one of Laurance's five siblings and the only one to survive him, in a statement.
Rockefeller's wife Mary died in 1997. Survivors include their four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Burial will be private. A memorial service is being planned. 