James Crown

James Schine Crown was an American businessman and heir. He was president of Henry Crown and Company, a family investment company. Crown was a director of JPMorgan Chase & Co., General Dynamics and Sara Lee. He was also the managing partner of the Aspen Skiing Company.

Early life

Crown was born the son of Renée and Lester Crown. His mother was the sister of producer G. David Schine and the daughter of theater and hotel magnate, Junius Myer Schine. His grandfather was Chicago industrialist Henry Crown. His sister was Susan Crown.

Career

In 1976, Crown earned a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1980. He served as chairman of the board of trustees of the University of Chicago from 2003 to 2009. After law school, Crown worked as an associate for Salomon Brothers in New York City where he became a vice president in the Capital Markets Service Group in 1983.
In 1985, he returned to Chicago to join his family's investment firm. He became president in 2002 and chairman and chief executive in 2018.
In June 2023, Crown served as the chairman of the Commercial Club of Chicago Civic Committee's public safety task force.

Personal life and death

In 1985, Crown married Paula Hannaway, a 1980 magna cum laude A.B. graduate of Duke University and 2012 M.A. graduate of School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The couple had four children.
Crown died in a single vehicle crash at the Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek, Colorado, on June 25, 2023, his 70th birthday.