Milton Petrie

Milton Petrie (August 5, 1902 – November 6, 1994) was a Russian American retailer, investor and philanthropist. He made a fortune from a chain of retail stores and supplemented it through a series of investments in real estate and stocks. He was well-known in New York City as a philanthropist who gave money to universities and cultural institutions and also to many individuals.

Background

His parents were Russian immigrants who ran a pawn shop in Salt Lake City when he was born. In 1927, he started a chain of hosiery stores, but it ultimately failed. He then built a large retail company called Petrie Stores, which operated over a seventeen hundred discount women's clothing stores under various names, Petries, Jean Nicole, Rave, Stuarts, Winklemans, Marianne's and G & G. ^[1] In 1987, he began to acquire shares in Toys "R" Us for less than a dollar per share. His stake grew to 38% percent of the company^[2] and was worth $1.5 billion at the time of his death.^[1] In 1977, his $10 million investment in a consortium organized by A. Alfred Taubman to buy the Irvine Company returned $100 million.^[3][4]

He married his fourth wife, Carroll, in 1978.^[4] She was from Charleston, South Carolina and was the widow of the Spanish race car driver Alfonso de Portago. At the time of Petrie's death, he was survived by his wife Carroll, his children by earlier marriages Bernard Petrie, Marianne Miller and Patricia Hugenberg and grandchildren Matthew Miller and Kurt Hugenberg.^[5][6] At his death, he left $300–400 million to establish the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, which continued his philanthropy.^[7]

Philanthropy

He was known for large contributions to educational and cultural institutions in New York. The Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was named in appreciation of his gift of $10 million to the museum.^[8] In appreciation for his $1 million gift to the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, his likeness is carved in the form of a corbel on the wall of the cathedral's south bell tower.^[9] He also gave millions more to the Beth Israel Medical Center, United Jewish Appeal, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

But he was also well-known in New York for his gifts to ordinary individuals. He gave $20,000 a year to Marla Hanson, a model whose face was slashed in an attack instigated by a former landlord.^[10] He was especially generous to police officers. He pledged $20,000 a year to the widow of Anthony Venditti, a New York City police detective who was killed in a 1986 shootout, as well as setting up trust funds for the college education of the detective's children.^[11] He made the same gift to the widow of Louis Miller, a New York City police detective who was killed in 1987^[12] and to Steven McDonald, a New York City police officer who was shot and paralyzed in 1987.^[13]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Strom, Stephanie, "Milton J. Petrie, Philanthropist, Is Dead at 92", New York Times, November 8, 1994
2. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine, "Market Place; At Petrie Stores, estate planning drove a final swap of stock", New York Times, December 6, 1994
3. ^ Lindsey, Robert, "Taubman-Allen Group Is Winner Of Irvine as It Tops Mobil's Offer", New York Times, May 21, 1977, page 32
4. ^ ^{a b} Curtis, Charlotte, "The Tireless Milton Petrie", New York Times, May 15, 1984, page C16
5. ^ Moin, David, and Tosh, Mark, "Milton Petrie dead at 92", Women's Wear Daily, November 8, 1994
6. ^ "Paid Notice: Death, Petrie, Bernard", New York Times, September 7, 2007
7. ^ Fabrikant, Geraldine, "He Sure Didn't Take It With Him", New York Times, November 20, 1994
8. ^ Glueck, Grace, "$10 Million is Pledged for Met Sculpture Court", New York Times, August 7, 1987, pg C20
9. ^ Madden, Stephen, "Upon This Rock . . .", Fortune Magazine, November 7, 1988
10. ^ Martin, Douglas, "About New York; A Tale of Giving, With a Surprise For One Reader", New York Times, July 19, 1989
11. ^ Associated Press, "Aid Pledge Given Widow of Officer, New York Times, February 1, 1986, page 32
12. ^ Teltsch, Kathleen, "Retailer Assists Detective's Widow", New York Times, August 9, 1987, page 31
13. ^ Brown, Patricia Leigh, "A House Becomes a Workable Home For a Disabled Officer and His Family", New York Times, December 1987, page A1

Persondata
Name	Petrie, Milton
Alternative names
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Date of birth	5 August 1902
Place of birth
Date of death	6 November 1994
Place of death