Jonathan Bush

Jonathan Bush
Jonathan Bush
Born	Template:Birth date; Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	May 5, 2021 (aged 89); Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Financier
Years active	–2018 (retired)
Known for	Member of the Bush family; founder of J. Bush & Co.; CEO and President of Riggs Investment

Jonathan James Bush (May 6, 1931 – May 5, 2021) was a notable American financier and a distinguished member of the Bush family lineage. He was the fourth-born child of U.S. Senator Prescott Bush and Dorothy Bush, and sibling to President George H. W. Bush. Through his brother, he was uncle to both President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. He passed away in Florida shortly before reaching his 90th birthday.

Early life

Hailing from Greenwich, Connecticut, Bush completed his education at The Hotchkiss School followed by Yale University, where he became a member of the elite Skull and Bones society as well as the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, mirroring his brother George H. W. Bush’s affiliations. His siblings included Prescott Bush, Jr., Nancy Bush Ellis, and William "Bucky" Bush.

In 1967, Bush married Josephine Colwell Bradley; together they had children including entertainment journalist Billy Bush and healthcare executive Jonathan S. Bush.

Career

By December 31, 2018, Jonathan Bush had retired from Fairfield, Bush & Co., an investment advisory firm located in New Haven, Connecticut.

He established J. Bush & Co., a firm specializing in confidential banking services for foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C. This company was acquired by Riggs Bank in 1997, which subsequently appointed him as CEO and President of Riggs Investment based in New Haven.

In the early 1980s, Jonathan played a key role in assembling investors for his nephew George W. Bush’s initial oil enterprise, Arbusto Energy (later renamed Bush Explorations).

During the 2000 presidential election cycle, he was a significant fundraiser and donor for George W. Bush’s campaign, earning recognition as a "Bush Pioneer" for raising contributions exceeding $100,000.

Jonathan Bush died on May 5, 2021, just one day before turning 90. At the time of his death, he was the last living child of Prescott and Dorothy Walker Bush.

Controversy

On May 15, 2004, The Washington Post revealed that Jonathan Bush held a senior executive position at Riggs Bank when it agreed to pay an unprecedented $25 million civil penalty for breaches of anti-money laundering regulations.

The inquiry centered on Saudi accounts managed by Riggs Bank; however, it was stated that Bush’s investment division maintained "no connection whatsoever" with those accounts. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency dismissed allegations of political interference as "preposterous."

In 1991, Jonathan Bush was penalized $30,000 in Massachusetts along with further fines in Connecticut due to violations of securities registration statutes and faced a one-year prohibition from engaging in public securities brokerage within Massachusetts.

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