Mitchell Rales

Mitchell P. Rales
Born	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, art collector
Years active	1979–present
Known for	Co-founder of Danaher Corporation; founder of Glenstone; chairman of ESAB; limited partner of Washington Commanders
Spouse	Emily Wei (m. 2008)
Children	2

Mitchell P. Rales (born August 1956) is an American entrepreneur and art collector. Alongside his brother Steven Rales, he co-established Danaher Corporation in 1984, and in 2006, together with his wife Emily Wei, he founded the art institution Glenstone. Rales holds the position of chairman at ESAB and is a prominent limited partner in the ownership group of the National Football League (NFL) franchise Washington Commanders. He has also previously served as president of the National Gallery of Art. As of 2025, his net worth is estimated at $4 billion.

Early life

Rales was born in August 1956 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was raised in Bethesda, Maryland. He completed his secondary education at Walt Whitman High School in 1974, where he captained both the football and baseball teams. He graduated from Miami University in 1978 with a degree in business administration and was affiliated with the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Business

In 1979, after departing from his father’s real estate business, Rales partnered with his brother, Steven Rales, to create Equity Group Holdings. Employing junk bonds as a financing method, they acquired a varied range of companies. The firm was renamed Diversified Mortgage Investors in 1978 before adopting the name Danaher in 1984. During the 1980s, Rales acquired the AM frequency of radio station WGMS and transformed it into sports-talk station WTEM by 1992. In 1988, he initiated a takeover attempt for Interco, then America’s largest manufacturer of furniture and men’s footwear; he exited the venture after five months securing a $60 million gain.

The Rales brothers launched Colfax Corporation in 1995, an industrial pump manufacturer that was rebranded as Enovis in 2022. Mitchell Rales is also the principal shareholder of Fortive, which was spun off from Danaher in 2016; he remained on Fortive’s board until June 2021. In 2017, he incurred a $720,000 penalty from the Federal Trade Commission for not reporting stock acquisitions in Colfax and Danaher as required by the Hart–Scott–Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. This followed an earlier $850,000 fine in 1991 for a similar infraction related to Interco.

In July 2023, Rales emerged as the leading limited partner within a consortium headed by Josh Harris that purchased the National Football League (NFL) team Washington Commanders for $6.05 billion. Reflecting on the acquisition, he called it "humbling," recalling his upbringing as a devoted fan who regularly attended home games at RFK Stadium.

Art

Mitchell Rales and his wife Emily Wei Rales established the Glenstone art museum in Potomac, Maryland in 2006. Having owned the property since 1986 initially as their private residence, they developed it into a museum showcasing their collection of post-World War II artworks including paintings, sculptures, and installations.

In 2018, Glenstone completed a $219 million expansion project that enlarged its gallery area as well as adjacent woodland. By 2021, Rales contributed $1.9 billion to the Glenstone Foundation, boosting its endowment to $4.6 billion—placing it on par with institutions like New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum provides free admission through online reservations.

From 2019 until 2024, Rales held the presidency of the National Gallery of Art, before being succeeded by Darren Walker.

Personal life

Rales is of Jewish heritage and one of four sons born to Norman and Ruth Rales (née Abramson). Norman, who grew up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York, became an entrepreneur and pioneered the first employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in the United States when he sold his building supply business. He also established the Norman and Ruth Rales Foundation along with the Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service.

Rales has been married twice. With his first wife, Lyn Goldthorp Rales, he fathered two children before their divorce in 1999. In 2008, he wed his second spouse, Emily Wei. He resides in Potomac, Maryland. Between 2019 and 2024, Rales held the position of president at the National Gallery of Art and currently chairs the board of ESAB. He previously served on the board of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and stepped down as chair of Enovis in 2023. That same year, he was inducted into the Business, Corporate, and Philanthropic Leadership division of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 2019, Rales committed to The Giving Pledge. As of June 2025, his wealth was approximated by Forbes at $4 billion.