William Macaulay Net Worth & Biography

William Macaulay was a billionaire energy investor who caught the attention of the media when he gifted $30 million to the City University of New York to give thousands of students the same opportunity he was afforded a half-century ago as a struggling teenager from the Bronx, to graduate tuition-free from a reputed college. He was known to have made most of his wealth from energy company buyouts, administrating the transformation of the First Reserve Corp. which he purchased in 1983, into one of the largest private-equity firms in the industry. He served as the company’s sole chief executive officer until 2015, shared the title until 2017, and served as executive chairman until his passing in 2019. Full details are available below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born William Edward Macaulay on September 2, 1945, in Manhattan, New York, United States, to John H. Macaulay and his wife Ella. His father worked as an engineer, and his mother was a homemaker.

After completing his high school studies at the age of 16 at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, he enrolled at City College, and after his graduation in 1966, he joined the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he received a master of business administration degree.

Professional Life: Business Career, Philanthropic Endeavors

After graduating with his MBA, Mr. William Macaulay joined the brokerage and financial services firm Oppenheimer & Company, where he became a disciple of the hedge fund innovator Leon Levy.

Since 2005, nearly 5,000 students have graduated from college, thanks to Mr. Macaulay’s initiative of offering them the chance to study without tuition. More than half of those were the products of New York City public high schools, and according to popular reports, about one in five of the students were the first in their families to go to a college. Mr. Macaulay continually showed support for this charitable endeavor by regularly attending commencement ceremonies. The $30 million gift he put into the educational project was the largest single donation ever made to the university at that time, and it enabled the university to help honor students achieve their full potential.

In 1983, the late businessman teamed up with John Hill, a partner in another buyout firm, and acquired First Reserve Corporation. As an investment manager and financial adviser, Macaulay built the firm into a professional energy industry company that at the height of its success, managed some $20 billion in assets.

Mr. Macaulay and his wife, Linda, also contributed to the Macaulay Library at the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Rogosin Institute, and the American Museum of Natural History where his wife served as a co-chair of the board.

William Macaulay prided himself on what may be his most lasting legacy – the highly selective college, instituted in 1999, at which the most gifted students from 8 of the City University’s senior campuses receive further academic mentoring and financial support.

Personal Life: Family, Demise

Mr. Macaulay died on November 26, 2019, at a hospital in Cleveland. He was 74. The cause was a heart attack, according to a statement by his daughter Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis.

In addition to his daughter Elizabeth, the late businessman, who lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, is survived by another daughter, Anne; his wife, Linda; and two grandchildren.

Bill and his wife Linda weren’t just business people and humanitarians. The couple were avid bird watchers, who logged 6,625 species in 147 countries.

William Macaulay Net Worth

As of the time he died in 2019, William Macaulay’s net worth was estimated at more than $1 billion dollars. He was listed as one of the billionaire residents of Greenwich, Connecticut.

An MBA graduate from the Wharton School of Business, Bill was the owner of First Reserve, a very successful energy private investment company that currently manages more than $20 billion worth of assets across 30 companies, and is said to generate revenue of more than $200 billion each year. Under the administration of Bill Macaulay, First Reserve made several excellent business decisions which helped the company attain extra levels of success in the business field. He led the acquisition of the copper company Mettalum Holdings (80 percent) and brokered an agreement with Sun Edison to develop an innovative large-scale solar power apparatus. Furthermore, he spearheaded the company’s 50 percent acquisition of Glencore (a $2 billion investment) and further expanded the operations of First Reserve by opening a new office in Hong Kong with the goal of building a formidable foundation in the Asia market. First Reserve’s most noteworthy transactions in the traditional energy sector are PBF Energy (2008), CHC Helicopter (2008), Brand Services (2007), Dresser Industries (2004), Pride International (1999), Enterra Corporation (1994). The firm, founded in 1984, is the oldest and biggest private equity fund fully committed to investments in the energy sector.