Ronald S. Lauder

Ronald Steven Lauder (born February 26 1944 in New York City) is an American businessman, philanthropist, art collector and conservative activist. He was an attendee at the Neocon international Democracy & Security International Conference in Prague in June 2007. He has funded the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya from which the Herzliya Conference has been organised since the year 2000. The conference has in recent years been co-organised by the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies founded in 2006 at the Shalem Center, which co-organised the Prague conference. The center is named after Sheldon Adelson who was also in attendance in Prague in 2007.

Forbes lists Lauder among the richest people of the world with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion in 2007.

Biography

Lauder is the son of Estée Lauder and Joseph Lauder, founders of Estée Lauder Companies, and the younger brother of Leonard Lauder, chairman of the board of the Estee Lauder company. He attended the Bronx High School of Science and holds a Bachelors degree in International Business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He studied at the University of Paris, and received a Certificate in International Business from the University of Brussels. He is married to Jo Carole Lauder and has two children, Aerin and Jane. Lauder started to work for the Estee Lauder Company in 1964. In 1983 he became a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO policy at The Pentagon.

In 1986 Ronald Reagan named him as the US ambassador to Austria, a position he held until 1987. As ambassador, he fired diplomatic officer Felix Bloch, who later became known in connection with Robert Hanssen espionage case.

As a Republican, he made a bid to become the mayor of New York City in 1989, losing to Rudy Giuliani in the Republican primary. Lauder manages investments in real estate and media, such as Central European Media Enterprises and Israeli TV.

2001 Estee Lauder Boycott

In 2001 Muslim Associations in the U.S. called for a boycott on Estee Lauder products after Ronald Lauder appeared at a One Jerusalem rally. Khalid Turaani, a spokesman for one of the groups planning the boycott, American Muslims for Jerusalem, said that Muslims and Arabs had long been offended by Mr. Lauder's pro-Israeli views, but had not decided to call for a boycott until Mr. Lauder appeared at the One Jerusalem rally of religious and nationalist Israelis in January. Mr. Turaani accused Lauder, of using his name and wealth to support Israeli hard-liners

UN Anti-Racism Conference

Lauder described the UN anti-racism conference as a "shameful event". He said of the conference :

"Every day it becomes clearer that the Durban Review Conference is not about combating racism, but about promoting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda within the framework of the United Nations. "Surely no good can result from a conference where countries such as Libya, Iran, Pakistan and Syria are dictating the agenda. The plights of the victims of true racism and discrimination are being ignored. Sudan is not condemned for the mass killings in Darfur, Iran has been given a pass for its cruel treatment of Bahais and other minorities, as well as its mass executions of students and dissidents. Pakistan is not being held accountable for introducing Sharia law in order to appease the Taliban. These and other countries are attempting to protect their extremist ideologies under the disguise of banning the 'defamation of religion' while at the same time refusing to condemn Holocaust denial,

Israel Lobby and Foreign Policy

In 1987, Lauder established the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, a philanthropic organization. The foundation also supports student exchange programs between New York and various capitals in Central and Eastern Europe.

Lauder is actively involved in lobby and other organisations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish National Fund, the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Brandeis University, and the Abraham Fund. With his brother he founded the Lauder Institute at Wharton School. Lauder has also served as a Finance Chairman of the New York State Republican Committee. In 2003 Lauder founded and became a president of Lauder Business School in Vienna, Austria.

Lauder was elected President of the World Jewish Congress on June 10, 2007, beating the South African businessman Mendel Kaplan and Einat Wilf of Israel by a clear margin. As WJC President, he has met with a number of heads of state and government, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Pope Benedict XVI, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and Swiss President Pascal Couchepin. Lauder has been strongly critical of business deals by European energy firms with Iran and called for stronger UN sanctions because of Tehran's threat against Israel and its nuclear program.

Affiliations

Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya | Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy | World Jewish Congress President

Book

• Lauder, RS. Fighting Violent Crime in America. Dodd Mead (April 1985). ISBN 0-396-08495-8

External links

• Ronald S.Lauder Foundation
• Biography by CME
• Lauder Institute
• Interview with Ronald Lauder by Charlie Rose
• Election of WJC President, 10 June 2007