Winthrop H. Smith Jr.
Winthrop Hiram "Win" Smith Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949 New York, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, entrepreneur, private investor |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Known for | Executive vice president at Merrill Lynch & Co., Chairman of Merrill Lynch International, Inc., chairman and CEO of Summit Ventures NE, LLC |
Winthrop Hiram "Win" Smith Jr. (born 1949 in New York) formerly held the role of executive vice president at Merrill Lynch & Co. and served as Chairman of Merrill Lynch International, Inc. Beginning his career at Merrill Lynch in 1974 after completing an MBA from the Wharton School, he dedicated 27 years to the firm before retiring in January 2002. A 1971 alumnus of Amherst College, Smith started as an associate in investment banking and was instrumental in driving Merrill Lynch's expansion overseas during the final decade of his tenure.
Biography
Smith was born to parents Winthrop H. Smith and Vivian G. Brown. In 1971, he wed Margaret "Maggie" Dunn Smith, who is the daughter of Harold Webster Smith, founder of Webster Bank; their families had no prior connection.
Currently, Smith is engaged as an entrepreneur and private investor and holds the positions of chairman and CEO at Summit Ventures NE, LLC. This company owned Vermont’s Sugarbush Resort from 2001 until its acquisition by Alterra Mountain Company in 2020. Smith is recognized for revitalizing Sugarbush to its former status. Additionally, he was a board member at Eaton Vance Corporation until it was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2021 and served as chair of The Nature Conservancy Vermont between 2020 and 2023. His leadership experience includes chairing The National Ski Areas Association, as well as board memberships with AGF Management (Canada), Richardson Financial Group, and Richardson-GMP. He also led The Vermont Business Roundtable and the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and holds honorary affiliation with the Vermont Air National Guard. In 2022, he was honored with the National Ski Areas Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
Smith’s previous philanthropic board involvements encompass institutions such as Deerfield Academy, the Cancer Research Institute, The Winthrop H. Smith Memorial Foundation, New York City Ballet, The Economic Club of New York, Outward Bound USA, The Japan Society, The United Nations Association of the United States, and The Americas Society. He was also affiliated with the Council on Foreign Relations.
In December 2013, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of Merrill Lynch’s final shareholder meeting, Smith published Catching Lightning in a Bottle: How Merrill Lynch Revolutionized the Financial World.
He has four children and nine grandchildren from his first marriage to Maggie Smith. Their oldest daughter, Heather Smith Winkelmann, operates Winvian Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut—a boutique hotel that Smith and Maggie developed on a family estate acquired in 1948. His second wife was Lili Ruane, daughter of investment expert William J. Ruane, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in February 2024.
Smith’s stepfather was Charles B. McVay, captain of the Indianapolis. The narrative of McVay’s ordeal and subsequent wrongful treatment by the U.S. Navy in 1945 is detailed in the book The Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man.
References
- Article about Wintrop Smith Jr. in Business Travel Guide
- Q&A: Win Smith, Sugarbush Resort. Vermont Business Magazine, Mar 01, 2006
- A Resignation Prompts A Shake-Up at Merrill. New York Times, April 28, 1992
- Power Struggle May Hasten Transition at Merrill Lynch. New York Times, June 3, 2002