JPMorgan director, investor James Crown dies in race car crash on 70th birthday

James Crown, president of Henry Crown & Co., the investment vehicle of one of Chicago’s richest families, died Sunday in a crash at a racetrack in Woody Creek, Colorado.

He was celebrating his 70th birthday. Crown was killed in a single-vehicle collision at the Aspen Motorsports Park, according to a statement from the Pitkin County Coroner’s Office. The incident was ruled an accident, the coroner said.

Crown was a frequent visitor to Colorado ski country. His family owns the Aspen Skiing Co., an operator of mountain and ski area facilities based in Aspen.

He was also the longest-serving board member of JPMorgan Chase & Co., having been a director for the bank or its predecessor firms going back to 1991.

“We extend our deepest condolences to Jim’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of the New York-based bank, said in a statement Monday. “Our thoughts are also with all of you who knew and loved Jim, as much as I did. He was an integral part of JPMorgan Chase and our lives, and his presence will be deeply missed.”

Crown and his family have long been major shareholders in JPMorgan, through the Crown Fund and other investment vehicles. He reported about 12.4 million shares spread across retirement accounts, trusts for his children and other funds, according to a February SEC filing. That stake would be worth more than $1.7 billion at the current stock price.

“I was devastated to hear of Jim Crown’s tragic passing this weekend,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “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.”

Crown’s father, Lester Crown, 98, is a stakeholder in New York’s Rockefeller Center, the New York Yankees, the Chicago Bulls and defense contractor General Dynamic Corp.

Lester Crown’s father, Henry Crown, amassed his fortune through Material Service Corp., which he founded with his brothers Irving and Sol in 1919 and built up to become one of the largest cement distributors in the US at one point. General Dynamics, one of the country’s largest defense contractors, acquired Material Services. Lester Crown sat on its board from 1974 to 2006.

Chicago Philanthropy
Through the family’s philanthropy, the Crown name adorns Chicago institutions including the Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place, the Henry Crown Space Center at the Museum of Science and Industry and buildings at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

James Crown was engaged in a plan to fight rampant crime in Chicago as part of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. As chair of the civic group’s public-safety task force, he and other business leaders wanted the city to slash murders in half and shootings by more than 40% over the next five years.

“Jim embodied the very best qualities of Chicago’s business and civic leadership: generous, wise, thoughtful, and committed,” the Civic Committee said in a statement. “Over the years he and his family have contributed in countless ways to the region’s economic and civic health and vitality.”

Crown earned a degree in political science from Hampshire College in 1976 and received his law degree from Stanford University in 1980. He became a vice president of the Capital Markets Service Group in 1983 and joined his family’s investment firm in 1985.