James Crown, leading Chicago philanthropist, dies at 70

A scion of one of Chicago’s wealthiest and most philanthropic families, James Crown held key roles with venerable institutions like the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry, and was often at the center of conversations over the city’s political, business and civic issues, including the epidemic of gun violence.

Crown died on Sunday, his 70th birthday, after the vehicle he was in crashed into an impact barrier at the Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek, Colorado, near Aspen, where he had a home. Crown had been a resident of Chicago’s Gold Coast.

The Crown family issued a statement late Sunday confirming news reports of the accident.

“Tremendously civic-minded, Jim was kind, and his passion for caring was unending,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a tweet early Monday. “MK and I were saddened to learn of the passing of our friend Jim Crown.”

Born James Schine Crown in Chicago, Crown was the grandson of industrialist Henry Crown, who in 1919 founded Material Service Corp., which later merged with aerospace and defense firm General Dynamics. Crown’s father was longtime civic leader Lester Crown.

Crown received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Hampshire College in Massachusetts in 1976 and then a law degree from Stanford Law School in 1980.

Crown worked for five years for investment bank Salomon Brothers in New York before returning to Chicago to join his family’s investment firm, Henry Crown & Co. He became the company’s chairman and CEO in 2003, overseeing investments and his family’s fortune.

He served on the boards of several major corporations, at one time being lead director of Sara Lee Corp. At the time of his death he was on the board of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and recent filings showed that he was bank’s largest insider owner, with a $1.72 billion stake.

Crown’s role in JPMorgan Chase stemmed from his family’s ownership in predecessor banks, dating back to the First National Bank of Chicago. Crown’s grandfather Henry had begun buying shares in First Chicago in the early 1970s after the bank’s stock crashed following the Hunt brothers’ failed attempt to corner the silver market.

First Chicago merged with NBD in 1995 and then with Bank One in 1998, and in 2000, Crown and another board member, John Hall, recruited Jamie Dimon to be Bank One’s CEO. Bank One in 2004 was acquired by JPMorgan Chase, which made Dimon its CEO.

In the political arena, Crown had been a major supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential run. He co-chaired Obama’s 2008 Illinois finance committee and ranked among his top campaign bundlers. Crown’s support netted him and his wife an invitation to Obama’s sixth state dinner in 2012, in which the president hosted then-British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife.

“He was an extraordinary civic leader and a loyal and devoted friend who I have now known for 25 years,” said Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett. “Jim chaired the board of the University of Chicago at the same time that I chaired the board of the University of Chicago Medical Center, so we worked together very closely, and he used his energy and commitment to excellence and brought all his incredible power and used it to be a force for good.”

Crown also was a strong supporter of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Crown was a longtime University of Chicago trustee who chaired the board for six years. In 2021, he and his wife, Paula, donated $75 million to the U. of C.’s social work school, which was renamed the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice.

“The challenges facing today’s communities require innovative, interdisciplinary and proactive solutions,” he told the Tribune at the time. “We are honored to make this investment in understanding and addressing profound societal challenges on both a local and global scale.”

Crown also served on the boards of General Dynamics Corp., the Museum of Science and Industry and the Aspen Institute.

Most recently, Crown was announced as the chair of a public safety task force formed by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago with the goal of reducing deaths from gun violence.

“We are clear-eyed about the challenges, but we also think it’s necessary to have a shared set of ambitious goals when it comes to reducing violence and saving lives,” Crown told the Tribune several weeks ago. “We have to do our best to stay attractive to the corporate community because of all the benefits that happen for all the citizens here, if we’ve got a stable employment base and employers that are succeeding.”

Jarrett lauded Crown’s “central role representing the business community” with the task force.

“The countless hours that he has spent in that effort will be a part of his legacy as well,” she said. “When you think of the Chicago business community and people who don’t just talk but devote their energy and time and action, Jim’s name is at the top of the list. He’s a role model for what civic leadership should look like.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement that he was “devastated” to learn of Crown’s death.

“A lifelong Chicagoan, Jim gave back to the city through philanthropy and leadership on a number of civic and academic boards as he was deeply committed to investing in Chicago and its people,” Johnson said. “With his generosity, Jim truly embodied the soul of Chicago.”

Crown and his family had held an investment in Aspen Skiing Co. since 1985 and they had owned the company outright since 1993, with Crown serving as managing partner.

In describing Aspen Skiing to the Tribune in 2004, Crown called it “the best mix of business and pleasure of anything I do.”

In addition to his father, Crown is survived by his mother, Renee; his wife, Paula; three daughters, Torie, Hayley and Summer; a son, W. Andrew; two brothers, Steven and Daniel; four sisters, Patricia, Susan, Sara Crown Star and Janet; and two grandchildren.

Plans for a memorial are pending.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

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