Legendary investor Richard Rainwater died Sunday in Fort Worth. The billionaire was known for his optimism, and considered a mentor to many of today’s Wall Street leaders.
Forbes estimated this year that Rainwater was worth $2.8 billion. He made others rich, too. Early in his career, he helped turn around the Disney corporation. He also helped former President George W. Bush mint his fortune in the sale of the Texas Rangers.
“Within an hour, he would figure out if this deal’s going to work, if this public market idea’s interesting, if this real estate is appropriate, or say 'this meeting’s over, it’s been a pleasure; goodbye,'” said acclaimed investor John Scully, who worked with Rainwater, on CNBC.
Rainwater started his career at Goldman Sachs, until he was tapped by Sid Bass to manage the Bass family’s portfolio in Fort Worth. In the ‘80s, Rainwater went independent. He went on to launch a series of investment and real estate firms, co-found what became the nation’s largest hospital chain, and cement his reputation as a master dealmaker.
“He left such a great message for American,” Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht told CNBC. “He was so optimistic and the world was your oyster and it was: Anything you wanted to do you could accomplish.”
Former President Bush released a statement saying he was saddened by the passing of Rainwater. “Richard had a brilliant mind and a generous heart,” the statement said. “He was a lot of fun, inspiring to be around and generous and courageous to the very end.”
The son of a grocer and a J.C. Penney sales clerk, Rainwater was the product of Fort Worth public schools. Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy says Rainwater gave handily to make a difference in some of the city’s most troubled schools.
“Everybody else had said those are the low scoring schools, those are the ones we can’t help,” Kennedy said. “The charitable trust has gone into some of the schools that needed the most help and not only brought them to thrive, but made them competitive. You know, the graduation rate at O.D. Wyatt has quadrupled since the Rainwater Trust started helping.”
After being diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease in 2009, Rainwater spent more than $50 million to jumpstart research on PSP, or progressive supranuclear palsy. Though it did not produce a treatment in time for him, the research may still yield dividends for PSP and other degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injuries.
Rainwater was 71.