Ronald Lauder (b.1944)
of New York City; Art Collector & President of the World Jewish Congress 2007-
He is the billionaire co-heir to the Estée Lauder Companies, started by his parents. He was U.S. Ambassador to Austria (1986-87) and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of New York in 1989. He is an old friend/business associate of Donald Trump and it has been confirmed by John Bolton that it was at Lauder's suggestion that a White House team began to explore ways for America to acquire Greenland. As Trump ratcheted up his threats to seize Greenland in 2025, Lauder acquired commercial holdings there. He is also part of the consortium whose desire to access Ukrainian minerals appears to have spurred Trump to demand a share of the war-torn country’s resources. In 2026, the same U.S.-backed consortium won the contract to mine lithium at Dobra in Ukraine.
As President of the World Jewish Congress, he has vowed to “target” future U.S. Congress and Senate candidates who do not support Israel's actions. In October, 2023, Lauder described anti-Zionism as, “a direct threat to every Jew,” calling it “unjustified” to suggest that Israel had created an apartheid state in Palestine. In 2026, it was shown that his name appears 961 times in the Epstein files so far released by the U.S. Department of Justice. It provides evidence that he remained in touch with Epstein both socially and professionally until 2017, long after Epstein's conviction of soliciting a minor to engage in prostitution, and long after many other prominent individuals and institutions had cut ties with him.
As an art collector worth over $4-billion, Lauder has served as Chairman of MoMA, and remains a trustee. He was a Board Member at the Getty Trust and has been active at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, to which he gave 91-objects to the museum’s arms and armor department in 2020. In 2014, Jeffrey Epstein created Friends Ventures LLC, supervised by Epstein, that allowed Lauder and Leon Black to share ownership of a $25-million painting. Lauder is married with 2-daughters, one of whom is married to Kevin Warsh, President Trump's choice as the 17th Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (2026).
As President of the World Jewish Congress, he has vowed to “target” future U.S. Congress and Senate candidates who do not support Israel's actions. In October, 2023, Lauder described anti-Zionism as, “a direct threat to every Jew,” calling it “unjustified” to suggest that Israel had created an apartheid state in Palestine. In 2026, it was shown that his name appears 961 times in the Epstein files so far released by the U.S. Department of Justice. It provides evidence that he remained in touch with Epstein both socially and professionally until 2017, long after Epstein's conviction of soliciting a minor to engage in prostitution, and long after many other prominent individuals and institutions had cut ties with him.
As an art collector worth over $4-billion, Lauder has served as Chairman of MoMA, and remains a trustee. He was a Board Member at the Getty Trust and has been active at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, to which he gave 91-objects to the museum’s arms and armor department in 2020. In 2014, Jeffrey Epstein created Friends Ventures LLC, supervised by Epstein, that allowed Lauder and Leon Black to share ownership of a $25-million painting. Lauder is married with 2-daughters, one of whom is married to Kevin Warsh, President Trump's choice as the 17th Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (2026).
